Knights Of A New Order
by Halfbreed741
Summary: It takes more than a snake to take down the kingdom of Konoha. Can Hinata and Neji save their kingdom with the help of Sakura, Sai and a band of rogues? Or will it all come crashing down when the Akatsuki makes plans of their own? SasuSakuIta NaruHina NxT
1. The Tale unfolds…

-**AN**: I don't own Naruto

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**Chapter 1 - The Tale unfolds…**

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**What happened before…**

In a kingdom, also known as Konoha, that is located in the heart of the Fire Country, lived a new strong, fair, and loyal king, Hiashi Hyuuga. His late brother, mysteriously killed himself, and Hiashi was appointed the throne, making his daughter the heiress to their lands. He lived with his daughter and the former prince, his year older nephew, along with two children he saved from starving on the streets that were the princess's age. Everything was fine, well until Orochimaru, a power hungry asshole, came and screwed everything up. Or that was the truth anyway. Orochimaru was the king's advisor and family friend. No one would of known that he would betray everyone, and bring the kingdom to its knees.

Orochimaru and his army of rogues and bandits took over the peaceful kingdom and killed Hiashi. Problem is, he disguised himself as the king's nephew as he led his army, through the streets of Konoha. At the time of the attack, the king's real nephew, Neji Hyuuga, was captured and imprisoned within Orochimaru's army. By the time Neji could escape, and enter the castle. He alone, witnessed his own uncle's death.

"Hiashi-san!" Neji yelled as he charged toward the murderer. The false Neji just smirked as he placed his hand under his chin. A cloud of smoke surrounded him as he got taller, and wore a different attire. He gripped onto some of what Neji thought was skin, and peeled off his mask, reveling a laughing devil.

"Hello, Neji, isn't this unfortunate." Orochimaru said as Neji unsheathed his sword and attempted to slash through the snake's heart. Orochimaru dodged it easily as he knocked the sword out of Neji's hands. Without wasting another second, Orochimaru gripped onto Neji's throat with his right hand, as he slowly lifted him off the ground. "Ku, ku, ku, my, where are your manners Neji? What have I taught you?" Orochimaru said. Neji did his best not to suffocate as he tried to pry the snake's hand off his throat. "Only thirteen years old, and already you're attempting murder. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Orochimaru said as he released his grip. Neji fell onto the floor gasping for air. Tears slid down his face as he breathed heavily. He once again grabbed his sword and aimed for Orochimaru.

"Die bastard!" Naeji yelled as he swung his sword at the traitor. The sword made contact and pierced Orochimaru. Orochimaru merely smirked as a cloud of smoke surrounded him. By the time the smoke disappeared, the citizens and guards in the castle arrived at the scene. They all gasped when they saw Neji holding a sword that pierced through the dead king's heart. _"Replacement jutsu!" _Neji thought as he released his grip on the sword. His hands trembled as he faced the eyes of the witnesses.

"Prince Neji…Ho-How could y-you!" The captain of the guards stuttered as he watched the terrified prince stare at them.

"N-no…..No!" Neji yelled.

"N-neji-kun….W-why?" Hinata, his cousin pleaded as tears fell rapidly down her cheeks.

"Neji….." Sakura said as she was about to approach her terrified step-brother, but Sai stopped her. She looked into her other step-brothers eyes, as Sai told her and Hinata to turn away from the gruesome scene.

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sai-san……I didn't do it! It was-" Neji began.

"Arrest him men!" The captain ordered as he cut Neji off. The guards obeyed as the all unsheathed their weapons.

In panic, Neji ran and jumped out the window, shattering the glass, as he grabbed hold of a branch of a tree that was next to the window. He climbed down quickly as he ran for his life. Though a battle was going on between his knights and Orochimaru's army, he could hear some of the guards coming after him. Neji ran into the forest hoping to lose them, but found that it was a useless attempt. It was dark out, and the moon rose from behind the mountain peeks, giving whatever light that reflected from the sun into the forest. Neji continued to run with all his might. His heart was pounding, his muscles screaming to rest, but he couldn't stop. He knew that the guards would accuse him of murder, and might kill him right on the spot, if he were caught.

A deadly cool breeze was flowing through the forest as Neji continued his escape. His chest was aching, but he couldn't stop. He tried his best to keep up speed, but he knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable. He reached a cliff's edge, that had a river flowing down below it, hundreds of feet away. _"Shit." _he thought as he heard some of the guards voices coming closer. He was at a dead end, and Neji knew that soon, he would be a dead man.

"Over hear men! I think he went this way!" A guard yelled out, not too far from Neji's location.

"What do I do?" Neji said as he grabbed his head between his hands.

"Having fun Neji?" Orochimaru said, as he appeared from the darkness.

"You! How dare you betray our home!" Neji growled out.

"So strange that your father said the exact same thing before….My, my, I've said too much." Neji let out a gasp.

"…You….You killed my father!"

"Of course." Orochimaru answered passively. "Unfortunately, that council of ours chose your uncle to rule this land instead of me. I was the royal advisor, and I had more experience in the king's duties than Hiashi, but he got the position by blood. I always made the right decisions so, naturally, I decided that I should be king."

Neji clenched his fists. "Fuck you………Die you worthless snake!" Neji yelled as he charged forward and aimed a fist at the traitor's face, but Orochimaru dodged it easily, as he gave a punch of his own to the enraged prince, right in the stomach. The impact made Neji spit out blood as he fell to the ground.

"You're still a child. What a waste, you were my favorite among the others, I was even thinking of giving back your former claim on the throne after you've grown, but as fate would have it. You will never take your father or uncle's place."

Breathing heavily, Neji slowly stood up. "I…pant…Don't believe in fate." Neji said as he wiped the blood away from the side of his cheek.

Orochimaru smirked as he disappeared. Soon after a couple of guards appeared from be hind the trees. Each one armed with swords.

"You can't escape, murderer." The captain said as he stepped closer.

Neji matched his pace as he stepped back. He finally met with the edge, as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Whatever you believe, I didn't kill my uncle." Neji said as he stared at the soldiers that were coming closer.

"The proof is too great, you highness. It's a shame you turned out this way."

"Don't you get what the hell's coming out of my mouth? I didn't do it! It was-"

"Enough! Arrest him!" as they approached Neji.

"Bastards, I'll be damned before I let you dumbfucks take me before I clear my name, and kill that snake." Neji said as he jumped backwards off the cliff.

"Idiot!" The captain yelled as he and his men looked off from the edge to see Neji plummet down the cliff and into the dark river below.

_"This is it." _Neji thought as he felt himself submerge into the depth of the cold river. _"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sai-san, we will meet again…" _Neji felt himself float above the rushing river as he succumbed to the darkness around him.

**Back in the castle**

Everyone there was still shocked of what had just happened. Hinata, Sai, and Sakura hovered over their father's dead body, as tears of sorrow mixed with his cold blood.

"F-father….Please come back…" Hinat cried out as she hugged the king's unmoving form.

"Don't leave us, after…." Sakura wiped her tears, but more just came from her eyes. "After everything you did for us…"

"Good-bye father rest in peace…..Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, let go to our rooms." Sai said gently, as he slowly pried Sakura and Hinata's grasp off of his foster father's body. "Be strong f-for him…He wouldn't be happy if he saw us in this state in the middle of an attack.

As the battle raged on, Orochimaru took his cue as he pretended to negotiate with the _'enemy' _army. He stopped the war, and made himself a hero. In which, he received the throne in gratitude of the council. He had the kingdom rebuilt, and set a new order.Almost eliminating all of the Hyuuga's former laws, he turned the country poor, as he rained over them, but since he was so sly, he blamed all of their economic loss on neighboring countries, which brought war. With his cunningness and talents, he made himself his people's icon and hero, except for the three children that lived in the castle.

Too bad for Orochimaru, he didn't expect that the council would insist that the children would be the inheritances to the throne after him. He let it slide, seeing that it was only a small price to pay, compared to ruling the land. He simply planned that he would either get rid of them, or set them in his image. He preferred the first option.

Inside Sai bedroom, the three siblings sat down and discussed in secret.

"Do you guys believe that Neji would kill father like that?" Sakura asked all of a sudden.

Both Sai and Hinata looked at her then at each other before shaking their heads.

"No way….but how did, why did?…" Sai began to question.

"We don't know either…..Maybe he was framed?" Hinata said.

"Yes definitely." Sakura thought. Sakura thought for a second before snapping her fingers. "Framed….Framed…." Sakura repeated.

"Come on genius, you suppose to be the Einstein here." Sai said, being impatient.

"Shut up!" Sakura retorted.

"I miss Neji-kun." Hinata muttered.

"He was gone for almost the whole day when that army attacked us, right?" Sai and Hinata nodded. "And we were hiding near the secret back door, while the soldiers fought in the front. Father was in the throne room with Orochimaru-san, and then…..and then…."

"A-and then w-we found Neji with father." Hinata muttered.

"So where the hell was Orochimaru-san? What did he do when he was there?" Sai asked.

There was silence, but soon, Sakura broke it. "That fucker killed father." Sakura growled out as she slammed he fists against the bed. "That bitch framed Neji-kun, and killed father!" She almost yelled out, gritting her teeth.

"I'll kill him." Sai hissed. "I'll kill him!"

"H-he won't get away w-with this…..But we don't have any proof, it's just our guess." Hinata stated.

"Until we find Neji-kun, and-" Sakura began.

"N-neji-kun?" Hinata stuttered. "Didn't they say he was…was-"

"He not dead!" Sai assured, cutting Hinata off. "He's too strong."

"Well, until we find him, we should double or effort in training, and get stronger…then we can leave." Sakura concluded.

"L-leave?" both Hinata and Sai asked in unison.

Sakura nodded. "When we train strong enough to match the top knights, we'll come back to set a new order.

"Top knights! They are the strongest of the fighters! They know all the jutsus, and they're powerful! Plus, we're only twelve, knight training starts at seven years of age!" Hinata said.

"Hmph, I always wanted to be a knight, or at least kick one's ass." Sai said with a smirk, completely ignorant to Hinata's warnings.

"That's good to hear. So who's in?" Sakura said, as she extended her arm out between the three.

"I'm game." Sai said as he place his hand over Sakura's. "To become knights, and grow stronger!" Hinata looked at the two worryingly, but then remembered her father, and grew determined.

"T-to stop Orochimaru, and find Neji-kun!" Hinata said as he placed her hand over Sai's.

"As knights, we'll save our kingdom, avenge father, and make a new order!" Sakura said.

"Right!" Sai and Hinata agreed.

"Promise?" Sakura asked as she grabbed both Sai's and Hinata's free hands, in each of her own.

"Promise!" the both agreed as they both reached out and held onto each other's hands.

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**AN**: Sry it's short….Hope you all liked it. Just think of the knights as weird versions of ninjas! ….sweat drop…..don't give me that look! Well anyways, couple and stuff will be in later chapters! Until then, cya! Oh, and thx for reading!


	2. A New Adventure

-**AN: I don't own Naruto**

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**Chapter 2 - A New Adventure**

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**10 Years Later**

Out in the courtyard, Sakura, Sai, and Hinata were sparring with some of their trainers. Each of them were now twenty-two years old, and were well trained in the arts of self-defense, among other things. Sakura specialized in medical jutsus, Sai created his own fighting style with his ink drawings, and Hinata inherited her father's talents. Unfortunately, she couldn't master her blood-line limit, since it was suppose to be Hiashi training her to use it. The Hyuuga family tradition was that, at the age of fourteen, the young Hyuuga would gain the ability to use the byakugan. Then, the father was suppose to help the kid hone their new abilities, but Orochimaru took down Hiashi before he could train either Hinata, or Neji. Sakura was knocked down as one of the trainers swiped his right leg at her ankles. Sai was shot back against a tree as another trainer punched him straight in the gut, and Hinata collapsed onto the floor from exhaustion.

"Why do you three posses such weak stamina?" Their trainers asked.

Sai just let out a grunt, and Sakura muttered something under her breath.

"W-we're sorry." Hinata apologized.

"Don't apologize, work harder….." The trainer just sighed as he and the other trainers called it a day. They leftthe courtyard to the royals as Sakura and the other waited till they were gone.

"Finally! I hate pretending to lose to those assholes!" Sai retorted. "Tell me why we have to hold back again."

Hinata let out a sigh. "They're spies for Orochimaru remember. We can't let him know that we're stronger than he thinks." Hinata explained before looking at Sakura. The pink haired princess, went to her siblings as she healed all of their wounds.

"Besides, we can do our real training at midnight in our hideout, like we always do." Sakura said as they got up and entered the castle. The bare stone walls seemed to grow darker in color as they approached Orochimaru's chambers. Ever ten feet or so, there would be lit torches to light the dark hallways. Each door had the same appearance, a thick wooden frame along with steel locks. The wood itself about five inches thick. Even with multiple fire lit around the castle, the halls and corridors always had a cold atmosphere.

Sakura and the rest climbed a case of stairs that let specifically to their rooms. Each of the rooms were beside one another, just then one of the castle servants announced that dinner was ready.

"Lets hurry up to dinner." Sai said as he went into his room, to change. Sakura and Hinata, did the same.

At the dinner, Orochimaru sat in the head of the table, as Sakura and the rest sat as far away from the snake as possible.

"I heard from one of the guards that you continue to fail to improve in your skills." Orochimaru said, as the other three occupants of the table pretty much ignored him. "Sakura-chan." He said, bringing her attention to him. "Your tutor says that you pretty much slept through the lesson on medical jutsus." _"Yeah, because I already studied and learned that shit months ago." _She thought. Sakura muttered a 'sorry' before continuing with her meal.

"Sai-kun, Hinata-chan, you two did no better." Orochimaru said in an annoyed tone.

The two mentioned, continued to eat as well. "So with that on topic, I am sending you three to the Grass Country to visit a friend of mine there. To continue you studies."

"W-what?" All three said in slight shock.

"Yes, you'll be leaving tomorrow, the council agreed on this decision, so there is no arguing." Orochimaru said, as he gave the three a satisfied smile.

_"That bastard." _They all thought as they finished their dinner. If the council agreed, even with their royal positions, they couldn't over rule them.

Sakura and the rest left to their rooms without another word. They all met in Sakura's room and sat on her bed.

"That snake! That, that-" Sai began.

"Bitch…" Hinata whispered.

"Exactly!" Sai said as he laid down on the bed.

"Well I guess tomorrow's the day then." Sakura said as she got off the bed to her sword stand.

"What do you mean?" Both Sai and Hinata asked.

"We're going to leave this place for sure, and fulfill that promise we made a decade ago." Sakura stated as she got her favorite sword of the stand.

"Well, this is sooner than we planned." Sai said as he sat up.

"Are you sure we're ready?" Hinata asked unsure.

"Hmph." Sakura said as she threw a small figure, that was next to the stand, straight at Hinata. Hinata instinctively activated her byakugan as she thrust her palm forward concentrating some chakra in the center. The small figurine smashed to pieces, as it fell to the floor in a small pile. "Hn, yeah I think we're ready." Sakura smirked.

"Nice." Sai commented as Hinata stuck out her tongue, and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Tomorrow, once we're close to the grass country, we'll make our escape. With all the dumbasses for soldiers, we can get away easily. Once we find a suitable place to live, we can train even harder, and then we can recruit some friends we can find around. From there, we can say goodbye to that snake." Sakura said as unsheathed her sword.

"What if he sends a knight?" Sai asked as her crossed his arms.

"Then I guess we'll just have to take care of him." Sakura said as she her blade reflected the light coming from the fireplace, making it gleam. "Starting tomorrow, we won't be the royals of Konoha." Sakura concluded as she placed the sword on the floor and allowed her hand to rest on the hilt.

"I saved a lot up for years, I can pay for the expenses." Hinata said.

"Us too, and I'll have one of my ink drawings to tail us with our weapons." Sai suggested.

"Great!" Sakura said as she gave the two a big smile. "It begins tomorrow then."

"Right!" Hinata and Sai agreed.

**The next Morning**

"Sire, the princesses, and prince are in the carriage. We're ready to leave." A guard announced.

"Excellent. Your excused." Orochimaru said as he sat on his throne. The guard bowed as he turned around and left.

"So, am I going as well?" A white-haired person said as he jumped down from his perch. He adjusted his glasses as he gave his king a bow.

"Of course Kabuto, you are one of my strongest knights. I'm sure that you would make sure _nothing_ happens to the young royals." Orochimaru said as he smirked.

"As you wish." Kabuto said before leaving with a smile on his face. _"No more over grown brats to stop Orochimaru-sama's plans now."_ Kabuto thought happily. As he went outside with a couple of soldiers to the carriage.

"Let's get going already!" Kabuto shouted. The driver whipped his reins as the horses pulled the carriage away from the castle.

"Shit." Sai said as he looked out the window, seeing Kabuto right outside.

"Orochimaru had to send one of his best knights huh?" Sakura said as she crossed her arms. "We might have some problems here."

"Yeah, especially since you two will have to fight with your dresses on." Sai said as he started to chuckle lightly to himself.

"Shut up! It's not our fault that Orochimaru wanted us to look formal." Sakura said. "At least we have regular clothes underneath."

"I don't like this." Hinata said.

"I know, these things itch." Sakura said as she looked at her attire in disgust.

"No not that….." Hinata looked outside a bit to see that Kabuto was talking to one of the soldiers. "….Kabuto." She whispered.

"Why? He's here to protect us I think, right?" Sai said.

"Maybe Hinata's right, I mean, he is the snake's favorite weasel." Sakura said.

"What if he's here to assassinate us!" Hinata whispered in panic.

"No need to get paranoid." Sai said as he tried to clam his sister down.

"No. I think she's right. Look." Sakura said as she pointed out the window to each of the soldiers. "Recognize any of them?"

Both Hinata and Sai shook their heads. "No" The said in unison.

"We read and studied every able-bodied soldier and knight almost up to-date, so that means." Sakura began.

"They're all new recruits." Hinata finished.

"New recruits? Yup, the snake wants us dead. What an ass. How come none of the council members noticed this?" Sai said.

"Because Sai-kun, they're all idiots." Hinata said.

"Cha." Sakura agreed. "Well then, I guess we have to focus on Kabuto then, we'll just have to find the best time to attack."

"D-do we have to kill the new recruits?" Hinata asked sadly.

"If they get too much in the way, then yes." Sai said. "My ink tiger is tracking us now, with the speed of this carriage, it should be close by in a couple of hours." He said as he put away a scroll.

"Ok we should get there by nightfall, until then, I think we should rest. We're going to have an all-nighter." Sakura said as she made herself comfortable.

"I wish we could change first though." Hinata said as she got ready to sleep.

"I'll keep watch, and wake one of you in a hour or so to switch." Sai suggested.

"Ok." The two girls said as they drifted off to the darkness.

**Somewhere in the Grass Country border**

The men stood on the border as the sun was about to set. One had raven locks that defied gravity itself, as he wore plain dark clothes. Next to him was his sword and teammate. His teammate was about the same height, had blond hair, and a sword on his back.

"Dobe, you sure that there are valuables in the carriage coming?" The raven haired rogue said as he stood on a tree branch watching the sun go down behind the mountains.

"Sasuke-teme….Yes I'm sure, well that's what Shikamaru said anyways." the blond replied.

"Well then, did he tell us what's in the cargo?" Sasuke asked.

"No, all he said was that he knew it was worth a lot." The blond answered.

"Well Naruto, that's all I had to hear." Sasuke said as he jumped down the branch and landed gracefully on the forest floor. "Let's go."

"Wait, is it only the two of us pulling the job! What about Kiba, Shino, and the rest?" Nauto asked.

"They all have jobs to pull too, but unlike theirs, we only have to deal with one night and a couple of new soldiers." Sakura explained.

"That's it? You think that Shikamaru got his sources mixed up? If it's valuable, then why the crappy security?" Naruto asked.

"Don't know." Sasuke said before sprinting off into the now, dark woods.

"Damn it, always want to be first bastard." Naruto muttered as she sprinted of toward Sasuke's direction.

**Carriage**

"We're near the border you highnesses." A soldier called out.

Sakura and Hinata were already awake now, and Sai was woken up by the shout.

"Is it time?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Yup." Both Hinata and Sakura answered happily.

"Close your eyes." Sakura said as she gave some space between her and Hinata.

"Why?" Sai asked.

"B-because we're going to change." Hinata said blushing.

"Oh." Sai said.

"Turn around pervert, and if I see you peeking, we'll take you and Kabuto down!" Sakura warned. Sai instantly turned around as Sakura and Hinata took of their dresses and other unneeded accessories.

"Ok done." Hinata said. Both of the girls wore plain shirts and pants, making them look like commoners. Sakura replaced her heels with long black boots, as Hinata switched hers with regular sandals. All Sai had to do was take off his outer shirt, to looked like a commoner as well.

"Well I guess it's about time." Hinata said.

"On a count-" Sakura began.

"-Of three" Sasuke said as he was hiding behind some trees, as he and Naruto watching the approaching carriage.

"One." Sakura said.

"Two." Sasuke said.

"Three!" The two said in unison. Sasuke gave the sign to Naruto as they both rushed forward.

"An ambush!" One of the soldiers shouted, before Sasuke knocked him out. Sasuke was fighting with some of the other soldiers and killed them easily. He jumped onto the cart and looked on the other side to see Naruto fighting with a soldier, while other ones were knocked out or dead on the ground.

"Where's the knight!" Sasuke asked.

"Right here." Kabuto answered as he knocked Sasuke off the carriage. "I didn't expect the Uchiha runt to be here." He said as he jumped down from the carriage.

"Why you-" Naruto yelled out as he charged at the white-haired night, sword extended.

"Asshole!" Sakura yelled out as she suddenly came up form behind him and did a side-kick. Which sent his straight into a nearby tree. Naruto came to a full halt as he stared in amazement.

"Who are you?" He asked, but she seemed to ignore the comment as she charged straight at Kabuto.

"Hn." Kabuto muttered as he wiped some blood away from his lips. Before he could do anything else, the tree behind him cracked as Hinata broke through it. Kabuto turned around only to be in the perfect position for Hinata's 64 strike attack. As she activated her brakeman, as unleashed a barrage of attacks as Kabuto flew another direction.

Sasuke stood by Naruto as they watched in curiosity, of the new fighters. As Kabuto flew back, Sai's tiger appeared behind him and rammed him straight in the stomach. Causing Kabuto to crash into the ground.

"Aw, there you are." Sai said as he walked to his tiger. He picked up the packs it was holding as he dismissed the ink animal.

"Hmph, like I thought." Kabuto said as he stood up.

Sai tossed Sakura and Hinata their swords and gear as he took out his paintbrush and scroll. Sasuke and Naruto soon stood beside the girls and unsheathed their weapons.

"I know when I'm out matched." Kabuto simply stated, as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Ha! Chaaa!" Sakura yelled out as she high-fived Hinata and Sai. "Oh and thank-" But she stopped when she found Sasuke's sword tip mere inches away from her neck. "-You for helping us." Sakura finished as she squinted her eyes to try and see who held the sword. It grew darker, and it was hard to identify the things around her.

"Who are you three?" Sasuke questioned coldly.

Sai instantly pulled Hinata and Sakura behind him protectively, as he summoned his ink tiger again.

"Hey hey hey! Stop!" Naruto said as he came in between the two. "Teme! They're obviously allies. They helped fight against that Kabuto bastard!" Naruto said. He turned around with a huge grin on his face as he went up to the three. "Hi I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He chirped, as he shook all of their hands. "That was awesome the way you two fought!" He complemented to Sakura and Hinata.

Hinata blushed crazy as she shook his hand. "T-thank y-you." She stuttered.

"Thanks." Sakura said happily, but noticed that the raven haired stranger didn't show any enthusiasm as his blond friend.

Sasuke went up to the carriage to find that it was empty. All that was left was just some discarded clothes, and other feeble supplies.

"There's practically nothing here. Just maybe some food and a small chest of gold." Sasuke said aloud.

"What!" Naruto yelled as he ran to the carriage. "That's it?" He let out a sigh. "We wasted our time for nothing? I'm going to kill Shikamaru!"

"Ummm, excuse me. Sorry to be rude, but um, who are you two?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke glared at her. "Tell us who you three are first."

"My, isn't someone a jackass." Sai commented.

"Hey, don't say that about teme!" Naruto said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend you boyfriend."

"What!" Both Naruto and Sasuke yelled.

"Sai shut it." Hinata warned. Sakura socked his head for extra measure.

"Sorry, he could be an idiot sometimes. Hehehe." Sakura said. "Well anyways, I'm Sakura, this here is Sai, and that's Hinata."

"Any last names?" Sasuke asked a little suspicious.

"Sorry, we're…orphans." Sakura partly lied. "We don't know our full names." Sakura said, as she pretended to look sad. She swiftly jabbed Sai on his side.

"Yeah, we lived on the streets for years." Sai said a little too dramatically.

"We don't remember our parents." Hinata said.

"We were forced to eat wild animals, we couldn't bathe for sometimes weeks on end, we-" but Sai stopped when both Hinata and Sakura jabbed him on both sides. "That's enough Sai!" Sakura quietly hissed. Naruto and the rest sweat dropped.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke said after a while as he sheathed his sword.

"Uchiha!" All three almost yelled.

"We thought the entire Uchiha family was killed off." Hinata said.

"No, only two survived." Sasuke said as he turned to the carriage.

"I'm sorry." Sakura said, but Sasuke didn't reply to it.

Naruto followed Sasuke as they collected the goods. "Why would they have this fancy carriage just for worn clothes?" Naruto thought out loud. Everyone gave him a 'you're an idiot look'. "What?" Naruto asked the others.

"It's obvious they were transporting the young royals to the Grass Country, dobe." Sasuke said.

"Stop calling me that teme!" Naruto yelled. They had a glaring contest before they broke it off simultaneously. Sakura and the rest just looked dumbfounded.

"But where are they, and why leave their clothes?" Sasuke said.

"Maybe they went skinny dipping." Naruto suggested, but was hit on the head soon afterwards by Sasuke.

"You're truly an idiot sometimes." Sasuke muttered.

"Um….Just curious, but do you know who the royals are or what they look like?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked at her straight in the eyes. She couldn't make out how he looked like, but she could guess that he looked annoyed at that very moment.

"No." He answered coldly, before going into the carriage.

"Oh." Sakura said. _"What an ass." _She thought.

"Ah, don't mind him, he treats almost everyone like that!" Naruto said as he helped Sasuke pack the small chest and food supplies. When the packed up everything, Naruto went up to the three and asked, "Hey you guys want to stay with us? I mean, if you got nowhere else to go." he asked.

"S-sure…" Hinata stuttered.

"Great! Hey Hinata, can you help me hold the chest?" Naruto asked. She simply nodded as she grabbed her hand and ran over to where all the supplies were. Sakura only laughed at how surprised Hinata's face got when Naruto grabbed her hand.

"You two, carry those." Sasuke ordered as he pointed to the small crates of food.

"Ok." Sakura said, "But try asking nicer next time."

"Che." Sasuke scoffed.

"Excuse me?" Sakura said, feeling her blood boil. He ignored her comment as he walked off and picked up a large crate of valuables.

"Your right. He is a jackass." Sakura said to Sai.

The small group followed Sasuke and Naruto deep into the forest, until they cam e to a stop.

"Here we are! Home sweet home!" Naruto said as Sakura and the rest just looked confused. What Sakura and the rest could see, was just a bunch of really tall trees. Sasuke put down his things as he did a couple of hand seals. He yelled out 'Kai' as the trees disappeared and showered what looked like, a small army camp.

"What the?" The three newcomers said as they entered the camp. There were some buildings, though they were half demolished, and a number of very large green tents that looked like they could fit forty people. The entire place was lit with an unique system of lanterns, and Sakura, along with the rest, could finally see everything clearly. Everyone, young and old looked happy as they roamed around the camp. What surprised them were that each one had a weapon of some sort._ "Can everyone here fight?" _Sai thought as he saw two girls, no older than five, fighting each other with dull daggers.

Sakura took the opportunity to look at Naruto and Sasuke's faces. She almost blushed crazy when she saw Sasuke. She could only describe him as 'hot!'. _"If only he wasn't such a-" _But Sakura was brought out of her thoughts when Naruto yelled out something.

"He's the leaders' headquarters." Naruto announced.

"Leaders'?" Sakura asked.

"Yup! Teme here, and another guy. I'm ranked after the teme." Naruto said proudly. Sai and Sakura looked at the blond like he was joking, but Hinata looked like she found her role model.

"What? Really I am in third command!" Naruto said after seeing Sakura's doubtful face. "Just ask teme here!" Naruto said pointing to Sasuke.

"Hn, and we're called the head knights dobe." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah whatever, knights, che, I prefer leaders." Naruto said as he crossed his arms.

"Unfortunately, he is in third command." Sasuke finished.

"Unfortunately! Why you-" But Naruto was cut off when they heard someone calling Sasuke's name.

"Oh god." Naruto and Sasuke muttered at the same time. Hinata and the rest just raised a brow, until they saw a pretty blond haired girl running towards them calling Sasuke's name.

"SSSSSaaaaaaassssuuukkkkeeee-kun!" The loud blond called out.

"Great it's Ino." Naruto muttered.

"Ino?" Sakura and the rest repeated before the said blond launched herself at the Uchiha.

"Get off now Ino." Sasuke said coldly.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, you know you love this!" Ino chirped, as she got off him. Her smile instantly turned into a frown when she finally noticed Sakura, Hinata, and Sai.

"Who are you?" Ino questioned with a scowl towards Sakura and Hinata. She completely ignored Sai, which he didn't really mind.

"Uh, Sakura." Sakura said, already finding this Ino to be a problem.

"H-hinata." Hinata said, a little scared.

"Well Uh Sakura, and Hinata. Your new around here, so I'll make this simple, Sasuke-kun is mine! Got that forehead girl!" Ino said. Sakura's eye was twitching and both hands turned into fists. Knowing Sakura, Sai and Hinata took two steps backward. Naruto saw what Sai and Hinata did, so he copied, not knowing why. Sasuke looked at the three in confusion until Sakura started to argue with Ino.

"You called me what! You pig!" Sakura yelled as she cracked her fists.

"Pig! How dare you!" Ino yelled back. "You better watch out forehead girl, come near my Sasu-"

"I don't give a shit about that asshole!" Sakura said as she pointed towards the raven haired rogue. "Keep him, marry him for all I care, but what pisses me off is when ugly pigs like you make fun of my forehead!"

Everyone was a shock, nearby people just stared for a second before continuing what they were doing. Ino was in complete shock, her mouth was slightly open. The silence was broken when Naruto started laughing his ass of.

"I like her! First girl to call teme and ass, and not the last to call Ino a pig!" Naruto said as he leaned onto Hinata's shoulder for support. Hinata blushed on different shades of red, as she tried not to faint.

_"Well that's a first,at least she's different." _Sasuke thought as Ino and Sakura continued to argue.

"Ha, little Hinata-chan has a boyfriend." Sai teased. Hinata jabbed his side with her elbow, and Sai gasped as he fell to the floor.

Naruto finally stopped laughing when he asked if Sai was ok.

"I'm fine, just got a cramp somehow." He said as he looked at Hinata who played innocent.

"Hey you guys stop already!" Someone from afar called out from afar.

"Tenten, oi!" Naruto called out. A girl with who had her hair in two separate long braids. She had a plain black shirt along with long brown pants. She held two swords on her back and had a small hatchet strapped on her thigh.

"Me and the rest of the gang, can hear you all the way from our tent." Tenten said. She then turned to the newcomers, "Hi! I'm Tenten…Oh wait, you have to meet the others!" Tenten said as she dragged the three away from Naruto and the rest.

"We'll meet up with the other head knight." Tenten said as she headed to a small crowd of people. _"Head knight? They have knights here?" _Sakura and the rest thought.

"Move it, newcomers coming through." Tenten said as she practically threw people aside.

Sakura, Sai, and Hinata muttered apologies as Tenten extended out her arm. "And here he is." Tenten said with a smile.

Sakura, Hinata, and Sai all went into a state of shock. There, right in front of them, was their brother, Neji Hyuuga.

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**AN: **hope u like the chapter, I made it longer!….Maybe too long, but hey, that's fun right!……..never mind, thx for reading! Oh and this is suppose to be a Nejiten, SasuSakuItachi, NaruHina, Inoshika, and so on…..it might change later though.


	3. New Allie?

-**AN: I don't own Naruto**

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 3 - New Allie?**

**---------------------------------------------------**

"NEJI-KUN!" Sai, Sakura, and Hinata yelled out in unison. Neji just stood there in pure shock.

"Oi, Neji, you know them?" said a guy with a huge white canine next to him. Neji stayed silent as he stared at the three newcomers in silence.

"I would say yes Kiba. How troublesome." said a guy with a short ponytail.

"Hey Neji! What's wrong?" Tenten said as she waved her arm in front of her leader. A guy who was completely covered in a long gray cloak, and a pair of sunglasses, came forward and told everyone to leave the four alone.

"Why Shino?" A guy in green spandex asked.

"Lee…" Shino glared at him, and Lee took the hint.

"Let's move people!" Tenten yelled out. The small crowd just muttered some crap as they dispersed.

"You're, alive." Hinata said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Well, you got a heck lot taller." Sai said a little jokingly, to lighten the tension.

"How did you three get here?" Neji asked.

"We kind of snuck out of course." Sakura answered. "What…How did you do all this?" She asked looking around.

"Long story…"

"Neji, we know you're innocent. We know Orochimaru's the asshole who framed you." Sai said.

"H-how-" Neji began.

"And I hope you know that we want to help you take him down." Sakura said, cutting Neji off. It took Neji a couple of seconds to let the words sink in. Hinata just ran up to her cousin, and gave him a warm hug. Neji stepped back from the sudden embrace, but then hugged her back. Sakura soon did the same. Sai just stood there, feeling a little awkward. Hinata and Sakura released their embrace as they laughed lightly.

"Shut up." Sai said. He just stuck out his hand toward Neji, and the elder brother shook it. "People might think the wrong way if I hugged you and cried."

"You're the same, even after a decade." Neji said as he led his siblings toward the leaders' headquarters.

Naruto and Sasuke were already inside the headquarters.

"Hey teme." Naruto said.

"What?" said Sasuke.

"What do you think of the newcomers?"

"They're annoying. Especially the pink haired one."

"Sakura? No way, she's cool! Hinata too!…Sai's an ass though."

"Hmph, you get comfortable with strangers too easily."

"Shut up, you're the complete opposite." Naruto said, shaking his fist at the Uchiha.

"I guess we have to wait and see what Neji thinks." Just then the door opened. Naruto and Sasuke saw that it was Neji, along with the three newcomers they met minutes ago.

"Hey Neji, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan!…Sai." Naruto called out.

"Hey Naruto." Neji said, as he sat down on a chair near Sasuke.

"Hi Naruto." Both Sakura and Hinata said in unison.

"Hey baka." Sai said.

"What did you call me!" Naruto yelled out.

"Keep it down Naruto." Neji commanded. Naruto just grumbled to himself, as Sakura and the rest found somewhere to sit down.

"I guess I should clarify everything that's going on." Neji started.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"These three are my family."

"Wh-what!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled.

"Sakura-chan's my younger sister, Sai-san's my younger brother, and Hinata-chan is my younger cousin." Naruto and Sasuke's jaw were left gaping open.

"B-but, you guys look nothing alike!" Naruto said pointing to Sakura, Sai, and Neji.

"Um, he's my foster brother." Sakura said, hoping that Naruto wouldn't be as confused.

"Me too." Sai said.

"Oh…" Naruto said before calming down a little.

"I heard they were orphans, and that they had no family." Sasuke said as he glared at the newcomers.

"Uh, a-about that…" said Hinata stuttered.

"I told them to say that." Neji said, finishing his cousin's sentence. Sasuke just raised a brow in suspicion. "Let me tell the whole story." Neji just let out a sigh, as Sakura and the rest paid close attention. "Hinata-chan, Sai-san, Sakura-chan, that night I left, Sasuke and Naruto found me when I fell into the river."

**flashback **

_**"Hey Sasuke look!" Naruto said, pointing to a boy floating down the river.**_

_**"What is it now?" Sasuke said. He looked to where Naruto was pointing and saw the guy floating lifelessly.**_

_**"Let's help him out." Naruto said running toward the river.**_

_**"Do we have to?" Naruto stopped and stared at him. "Fine whatever." The tow reached the river and dragged the body out of the water.**_

_**"Hey he's alive." Nauto said after seeing that the guy was still breathing.**_

_**Naruto and Sasuke made a fire, and made sure the soaked survivor was warm. **_

_**"He's waking up." Sasuke said, seeing that the guy wasn't asleep anymore.**_

_**"Hey, you ok?" Naruto asked.**_

_**"Yeah…Thanks." The stranger said.**_

_**"What's your name?" Sasuke asked as he added more wood to the fire.**_

_**The guy thought carefully, and seeing that his two saviors may be his enemy he just answered, "Neji."**_

_**"Any last name?"**_

_**"No." Sasuke just glared at him.**_

_**"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto chirped.**_

_**"It's nice to meet you." Neji said.**_

_**"Where are you from?" Sasuke asked.**_

_**"Konoha…What about you two." **_

_**"I'm from Konoha too!" Naruto said proudly.**_

_**"The Uchiha clan." Sasuke said.**_

_**"Uchiha?" Neji asked.**_

_**Sasuke nodded, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."**_

_**"I'm sorry for your loss." Neji said, knowing that the entire clan was wiped out.**_

_**"Hn."  
"So, Neji, why haven't I seen you around?" Naruto asked. "I knew almost everyone there before I left." **_

_**"I guess, we just had bad luck in meeting each other." Neji answered. **_

_**"You why there's war going on? I can't even go home now. It's all that damn Hyuuga king guy's fault. He started the war. It's because of him I'm living with Sasuke." Naruto said. **_

_**"Hiashi, starting the war?…No, but they won't believe me. I guess I can't tell them who I am." Neji thought.**_

_**Naruto leaned near Neji and whispered, "Trust me, that teme's a real pain in the ass." Neji smirked.**_

_**"I heard that dobe." Sasuke said with his sharing an activated. Naruto gave Sasuke a glare, and the Uchiha glared back. During their little grudge match, Neji seemed to remember the events that took place only hours ago. Memories seem to flood his mind as Neji clenched his head in pain. Naruto and Sasuke broke their gaze when they noticed their new friend's distress. **_

_**"Oi, Neji, what's wrong?" Naruto asked worryingly.**_

_**"Let's take him home now, the Tsunade could tend to him there." Sasuke said.**_

_**Naruto picked up Neji and gave him a piggy-back ride as he and Sasuke headed home. Neji turned to look into the direction of his old home before he succumbed to darkness once more.**_

**End Flashback **

"And you can guess how things lead on after that." Neji said, finishing his story.

"I'm glad you had good friends to take you in Neji-kun." Sakura said. _"Though, I wish they weren't against the Hyuuga family."_

"Thanks!" Naruto said smiling. "Hey, why don't I show you your rooms for the night." the blond said.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said, as she and the others followed Naruto out of the building. They headed toward a large green tent just as Tenten emerged from it.

"Hey! I hope you guys got over whatever problem there was, cause dinner's coming up. Choji's making his special barbeque tonight!" Tenten said.

"Thank you Tenten, I'll see you at the table." Neji said. He quickly whispered something to her before she left with a smile on her face.

"Hmph, never really gave it a thought that you would have a girlfriend." Sai said.

"…" Neji just turned a little red.

"Don't worry Neji-kun, she's really nice!" Sakura commented.

"She's pretty too." Hinata said. Neji turned even more red. At this Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto snickered at the blushing knight.

_**Konoha**_

Back in the Konoha castle, Kabuto walked through the dark corridors to the main hall. There he saw a man with the same colored hair, leaning against one of the pillars. He wore a light amount of armor, had one eye covered with an old dark rag, and had another rag covering the bottom half of his face. His sword hung loosely against his side, as he read a small book.

"Ah, Kakashi-san. I'm glad you came all the way to Konoha." Kabuto said as he stopped a couple of feet away from his guest.

"Just tell me the job, and I'll be on my way."

"A little bit eager aren't we, Kakashi?" Kabuto asked.

"Nope. I just don't like looking at your ugly ass face."

"What!"

"I'm a mercenary, Kabuto. I don't really have time to waste around. Just tell me the targets, and I'll get rid of them for you."

Kabuto readjusted his glasses before giving Kakashi a small portrait of the young royals: Neji Hyuuga, Sai, Sakura, and Hinata Hyuuga.

"So just four people?" Kakashi asked.

"No, just three. The elder boy on the far right was killed a decade ago. Your targets are these three." Kabuto explained.

"So this painting was made ten years ago? They should be around…"

"Around twenty-two years old." Kabuto said, finishing the mercenary's sentence.

"The girls should be easy to identify, seeing that one has pink hair, and the other has the Hyuuga white eyes."

"Here's a little extra." Kabuto said, giving Kakashi a small pouch of gold coins.

"I suppose I'll come to face with problems on my mission, won't I?" Kakashi said. He put his book away into his pocket, and walked past Kabuto. After a couple more steps, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_"He'll get the job done for sure.I'll make sure of it." _Kabuto thought as he smirked.

_**Neji and friends (By now, everyone was introduced…)**_

"Let's eat!" Kiba yelled, his canine companion barked in agreement. "That's the spirit Akamaru!" Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto sat at the head of the table. Following them was Tenten, Shikamaru, Sakura, Hinata, and Sai.

"This is great Choji!" Sakura complemented.

"Thanks." Choji said, proud of the meal he cooked.

"Hey teme, pass the soy sauce." Naruto said. Sasuke got a small bottle next to him and tossed it carelessly toward Naruto. As if it was a casual routine, Naruto caught it without even looking.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Sai, after we eat, get some sleep. We'll go on patrol around the territory early tomorrow." Neji stated.

"Sure." Naruto said.

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"Okay." Hinata said.

"Cool." Sakura and Sai said in unison.

"Tenten, take over while I'm gone." Neji commanded.

"Hai." Tenten chirped.

After the meal, the entire camp went into what Hinata could describe as lockdown mode. All lights were off and there was no one in sight. Neji said goodnight and headed toward his tent. Sakura and the rest did the same.

Outside of Neji's tent, someone whispered his name.

"Come in Tenten." Neji said.

"Hey Neji. So you told me that you would tell me who the newcomers are." Tenten said, sitting on a chair near Neji's bed.

Neji took a deep breath.

"Neji, you know that I can keep secrets. I do know that you're the prince after all. If you could trust me with that, I don't know what could be worse."

"It's not that…So many things are going on in my head."

"What do you mean Neji?"

"Sakura-chan and the other two is the family I told you about. The one I lost ten years ago…"

Morning soon came and Naruto, who woke up first, woke up everyone else that was on patrol duty.

"Wake up everyone!" Naruto yelled.

"Shut it baka, we're up." Sai said, as he yawned.

"What did you-" but Naruto was cut off by Hinata.

"G-good morning Naruto-kun." She said.

"Morning Hinata-chan!" Naruto chirped. "Morning Sakura-chan!" the blond yelled out when he saw Sakura sitting up on her bed.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura greeted.

"Let's move people." Sasuke called out, sounding a little irritated.

"Morning to you too, ass." Sakura muttered under her breath.

Neji soon met up with the group and they all headed off into the forest. They traveled on foot for about a couple of minutes before Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto started to describe the landscape. Neji explained the best places to find food and herbs. Sasuke would direct which direction would lead to which lands, and Naruto just described his favorite relaxing spots. Hinata and the rest seemed to have fun during their patrol. They traveled for a couple of hours now. It was nearing the late afternoon and Neji decided it was time to head back.

"Later we'll see what you guys can do in training practice." Sasuke said as the small group walked on toward home.

"I'll like to see what you guys can do too." Sakura said.

"Yeah! I can't wait-" Naruto said but was cut off by Neji.

"Duck!" Neji yelled. Everyone did what he said as two daggers flew right above them, and into the trunk of the tree next to the group.

"Seems like practice will start early today." Sai said to the others as they all stood in a defensive stance.

A dark figure appeared from behind a couple of trees and bushes, and stopped a couple of meters in front of the group.

"What is your business here?" Neji said in a low threatening tone.

"It seems that Kabuto lied. You are alive." The man who had one of his eyes covered with a cloth said.

"Kabuto sent you!" Both Naruto and Sasuke growled out.

"That bastard." Sakura said after the two.

"The one and only." The guy said.

"W-who are you?" Hinata asked.

"Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi, a wondering mercenary." Kakashi said, as he unsheathed his sword.

"You don't look like mercenary. Where are you from? " Sasuke asked.

"I don't know, and I don't have a home. I just told you, I'm a wondering mercenary. You should really pay attention." Kakashi said.

"What are you here for?" Naruto asked.

"I already told you my name, can't that ever be enough for you people?" Kakashi asked. _"For a mercenary, he isn't really the bloodthirsty type." _Sai thought.

"Damn it just answer me! What are you doing here!" Naruto yelled out.

"Those three behind you." Kakashi pointed toward Sai, Sakura, and Hinata. "I'm sent to kill them."

"What!" Neji hissed.

"Hey, just see yourself as lucky, Kabuto thinks your dead, so I wasn't hired to kill you, just them."

"You'll have to get through me before you touch one hair on their heads." Neji growled out.

"Me too." Naruto said, taking the sword off his back.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed as she unsheathed his sword.

_"This is why I probably got paid extra." _Kakashi thought before walking toward the small group. Within a blink of an eye he disappeared and reappeared behind them. Everyone was shocked with the assassin's speed, especially Sakura, since he was now right behind her.

"You'll be first pinky." Kakashi said as he lifted his sword up, right above her.

"Sakura-chan!" The others yelled. Kakashi swung his sword down straight above the girls head.

"Shit." Sasuke muttered as he turned around quickly, hoping he could parry the attack in time. But he didn't make it…Because Sakura beat him to it. A loud clash of metal was heard throughout the group. Some strands of pink hair fell onto the grassy floor as Sakura was now at a stand off with Kakashi. The sword was a millimeter away from her skull, and she kept it from advancing downwards by parrying his attack with a small dagger.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled out as she jumped away from Kakashi.

"Great, they know how to fight…" Kakashi said before jumping backwards.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled as he charged toward the one-eyed mercenary.

"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke warned, but Naruto already sliced through Kakashi with his sword.

"Ha, he wasn't so-" but Naruto stopped when Kakashi's lifeless body turned onto a log. "What the fuck! How did he turn into a log?"

"I guess you've never been properly trained before." Kakashi said from a branch of a tree, above the shocked blond.

_"That was a replacement jutsu." Sai_ thought. _"But only knights know jutsus…I guess he used to be a knight before becoming a mercenary."_

"Naruto, don't just charge off like that! Use teamwork." Neji said. _"Sakura-chan, Hinat-chan, and Sai can't handle this. They probably never been in a real fight before. Sakura-chan was probably just lucky when parrying that attack."_ He thought. Sasuke seemed to think the same thing.

"Hey Saku-" but before Neji could say anything else. Sakura had already started to engage in combat with Kakashi.

"Hinata-chan, let's go!" Sai said as he summoned an ink tiger.

"Hai!" Hinata said as she activated her byakugan. _"How did she learn to use her blood limit!"_ Neji thought. The two went to aid Sakura, as Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji shared the same expression on their faces. They were all astonished. Naruto couldn't take it anymore, he rushed into the fight without another thought.

"Neji come on." Sasuke said as he charged forward. Neji activated his byakugan before running forward as well.

Sakura was shot back and her back slammed against a tree as Kakashi ran straight at her, sword in hand. Sai's tiger came in from the side of the mercenary and rammed him hard with its head. Hinata the got a palm full of chakra and aimed for Kakashi's heart. Kakashi saw her intention and caught her wrist before her palm could make contact. He quickly spun around, while still having a tight grip on the shocked Hinata, and he threw her harshly to the side. Naruto ran and caught her before she could collide against a thick tree.

"Thanks." She muttered as he put her down.

"No problem, but you, Sakura-chan, and Sai should stay back. He's after you three not-"

"Exactly, it's us he's after. It's not fair to endanger you, Sasuke, or Neji-kun." Hinata said, cutting the blond off.

Sasuke sword clashed against Kakashi's as they swung at each other simultaneously. Neji came in from behind Kakashi and attacked him with his pointing and middle finger. Sixty-four strikes were delivered to the assassin's back as Kakashi was shot forward. Kakashi immediately regained his posture as he ran toward Naruto and Hinata. Kakashi made a group of clones as he charged toward the pair. Each clone had their sword extended out in front of them as Naruto and Hinata readied themselves. The first clones attack was blocked by Naruto, and another clone was gone in a puff of smoke by Hinata's attack. Another clone was keeping Hinata preoccupied, as some other clones kept the rest of Neji's group in the same situation.

"Which one's the real one." Sakura thought as she punched through one of Kakashi's duplicates. She then sensed someone behind her. Sakura turned around and swung her sword at her opponent, but Kakashi dodged it. He knocked the sword out of her hands as he executed a punch in her gut. Sakura coughed out blood as she knelt onto the floor. Sakura didn't let Kakashi have a chance to do anything else as she swung her right leg toward Kakashi's ankles. Kakashi jumped upward to dodge her attack. In mid air, Sasuke appeared to the side of him. He thrust his sword forward as Kakashi reached for his own sword on his side. Kakashi was able to barely deflect the attack as Sasuke's cold steel blade cut into his shoulder. Blood slowly started to seep out of the wound, reddening his armor.

Seeing that this Kakashi didn't disappear in a cloud of smoke, Sakura knew he was the real one. Kakashi jumped back away from the two as he sheathed his sword.

"Enough of this." Kakashi said as he gripped his left wrist with his right hand. His left palm faced the ground as it started to form a small ball of electricity. To Sakura it sounded like the chirping of a lot of birds, as the ball grew larger.

The last of Kakashi's clones were destroyed as Neji and the rest stared at what Kakashi had in his hand. The sound of a thousand chirping birds echoed throughout the forest. With Kakashi's other hand, he lifted the cloth covered his left eye away, revealing what Sasuke knew as the sharingan. Sakura and the rest gasped to see that this assassin had the rare and well feared blood line limit.

_"Could he be the other Uchiha, Sasuke was talking about? But his last name is different, and only one of his eyes has the sharingan." _Sakura thought as Kakashi stared at the small group in front of him.

"How do you have the sharing an!" Sasuke growled out as his sharing an appeared.

Kakashi looked at him. The ball of electricity in his hand started to disappear as Kakashi put his left arm down.

"You're an Uchiha?" Kakashi asked.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke told the mercenary.

"Do you know Uchiha Itachi?"

"He's my brother."

"So you and your brother are the last two Uchihas alive."

"It's that, that confuses me. Now answer me! How do you have the sharingan? And in only one eye!" Sasuke demanded.

"That depends on how your associated with your brother, and the death of your clan."

"In this lifetime, I plan to kill that son of a bitch for what he's done." Sasuke growled out, clenching his fists. Kakashi looked at him in the eye, seeing if he was lying.

Sakura and the rest seemed to be confused. _"If Kakashi isn't the second last Uchiha, then who the hell is he?" _Sakura thought.

"What the heck are they talking about?" Sai asked the others. Hinata and Sakura just shrugged.

Neji and Naruto knew their friends tragic history, but they remained silent as they paid close attention to the conversation Sasuke was having with Kakashi.

"If your against Itachi, then I am not your enemy." Kakashi said as he placed the cloth over his eye once more. "I too, plan to take his life one of these days."

"Why?" Neji asked.

"He took away someone important to me. In result, giving me this." Kakashi answered as he pointed at his covered eye. Sasuke stayed quiet. _"He's almost like me…" _Sasuke thought.

"I don't want to fight you." Sasuke said finally.

"Same for me, but unfortunately, I still have a job to finish." Kakashi said, as he looked at Sai, Sakura, and Hinata.

"What!" Naruto yelled out.

"I don't want to, but it's my job." Kakshi said as he unsheathed his sword.

"You're a mercenary for hire right?" Neji asked.

"Yeah." Kakashi answered.

"Why are you asking such a dumb question? We already know that!" Naruto said. Neji ignored him as he continued.

"Can't we just pay you more than what Kabuto paid, to not kill these three?" Neji asked. Everyone stared at the him.

"Hey your right." Sai said.

"How much did he pay you?" Sasuke asked.

"Thirty thousand gold coins, and that's without the extra, but for you I won't include it." Kakashi said. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Shit." Sasuke and Neji said together.

"T-that's a lot." Hinata stuttered.

"So about ten thousand for each of us." Sai said.

"Hey Neji, how much do we have back home?" Naruto asked.

"The money we can spare is about ten thousand gold coins." Neji answered.

"That's enough to feed the camp for a little over a year." Sasuke said.

"Well I guess we have to use the cash we saved up." Sakura said. Everyone stared at her.

"All those years of saving, and we end up blowing it off to save our asses." Sai muttered as he took out a scroll from his weapons pouch. Everyone stared at the three as Sai summoned another ink tiger. Only this one was carrying a couple of large sacks on its back.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Our savings." Hinata answered as she checked the sacks.

"Crap, we're missing ten thousand." Sakura said. "That's only enough for two of us."

"He could take Sai, then it'll be even." Naruto suggested. Everyone glared at him. "I was just kidding."

"Bad time for a joke dobe." Sasuke told the blond idiot.

"Well if that's it, then I guess I still have a job to do." Kakashi said uncaringly, he gripped tightly onto his sword handle as he came closer to the group.

"Don't you have a heart! How can you call yourself human?" Naruto yelled out.

"I do have a heart, it beats in my chest. Therefore I know myself as a living human, but I don't understand how that has to do with anything now." Kakashi answered.

"That's not what I meant!"

"Hey, wait!" Sakura said. Kakashi stopped his pace and looked at her. "You said you didn't have a home, or anywhere to stay right?" Kakashi nodded.

"Where are you going with this?" Sasuke asked. Everyone else asked the same question.

"Why don't you live with us, until the ten thousand gold is paid off?" Sakura suggested.

"What!" Sasuke and the rest almost yelled out.

"If he live with us, he could make sure we won't go back on our word, plus we can charge him, lowering the price." Sakura whispered to the group.

"I don't like this, but it's all we can do." Neji muttered.

"Good idea Sakura-chan." Hinata said.

"Fine but, if it doesn't work out, I say he takes Sai." Naruto said.

"Asshole." Sai said.

"As I was saying, you could live with us for about five thousand gold, and we pay you the rest off little by little." Sakura told Kakashi.

"Five thousand! It'll take about six months to pay that off, and that's only if Shikamaru finds us the good heists!" Naruto yelled.

"Well then six months it is." Kakashi said. Everyone stared at him. "I'll live with you for six months, in which, during the time, you pay me the other five thousand."

"You just had to say six months, why not two or three." Sai said to the blond.

"Shut up." Naruto said.

"Then it's settled. Six months along with five thousand." Neji said. "But how can me be sure you won't go back on your word? Or alert Orochimaru where our home is?"

"That's a good question, but you know I could of already killed you all, and I still can. At least in you home, you can keep watch over me, plus I would give you my word. I never take back my word." Kakashi said.

"How can we trust you? How do we know you didn't give your word to Orochimaru for me and my sister's deaths?" Sai asked.

"Well, actually…I don't know." Kakashi said smiling. "But I think I can offer my services to gain your trust."

"What are you talking about? Unless you mean assassinating that snake, then we have no need of your services." Sasuke said.

"No, I was thinking of training you guys properly. Especially you two." Kakashi said looking at Hinata and Neji. "I fought a lot of Hyuugas a while ago, and with my sharing an I understood how their fighting styles worked. They were one of the strongest people I killed. You two on the other hand seem to lack almost any knowledge of the basic Hyuuga arts." Kakashi said.

_"Shit…" _Neji, Sakura, Sai, and Hinata thought, as they looked at Sasuke and Naruto's shocked faces.

"Y-you're…" Naruto stuttered.

"Hyuugas." Sasuke said finishing Naruto's sentence. "You're the kids of that bastard who started the war?"

"Don't you dare say that about father!" Hinata and the rest yelled.

"How can you call that loon your father? He worked with Orochimaru, and then his nephew killed him leaving Orochimaru to……" Naruto trailed off when he realized he was talking about Neji.

"Traitor…And for all these-"

"Shut up!" Sakura yelled cutting Sasuke off. "You don't know shit about what's been really going on!"

"How can I trust a royal! I can't believe I didn't see it before when we found you three at the carriage heist!" Sasuke said unsheathing his sword.

"Wow, wow, wow." Kakashi said, trying to calm the pissed Uchiha.

"Well you trusted one for a decade." Neji said.

"Why didn't you at least tell us?" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

"Would you have believed him?" Sai said. Naruto just glared at him.

"Stop it, please…We shouldn't fight each other. Sasuke, Naruto-kun…" Hinata pleaded.

"I told you that you trusted _strangers_ too easily dobe. These people are just servants and spies for that snake. That's probably why Neji here would never go on missions that involved Konoha." Sasuke said. Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She went up to Sasuke and slapped him hard in the face. The sound of the hit echoed around them. Everyone was dead quiet.

_"Ow." _Naruto and Sai thought. Sasuke just glared at the girl.

"Do you…have any idea what you're saying?" Sakura said in pure anger. "Well do you!" She yelled. Hinata shuttered at her sister's furious tone. "The fucken truth is that Orochimaru killed our father and framed Neji-kun of the crime. Orochimaru made fools of us all, and don't you ever dare associate us with that snake! You know how it was to have your family murdered, how would you like it if you lived with the murderer who tore you family apart and lied to the entire country! Because we had to do that for ten freaken years!" Sakura started to cry.

"Sakura-chan…" Neji began.

"Do you know how it felt to know that he was just right there, right there, always so close, always watching? Yet you couldn't do anything because you weren't strong enough. To allow him to disgrace the name of your father and Neji-kun? If it's a yes, then go ahead and continue in believing that bullshit he feeds you." Sakura said. Everyone remained quiet. Sasuke just stared at her with blank, emotionless eyes. Sakura broke his graze when she turned around and sprinted off into the forest.

"Sakura-chan!" Sai and Hinata said as they went after her.

"Whether or not you two still trust me, or even believe me, I will always continue to go after Orochimaru. If you want to abandon our friendship, that is okay with me. Even if we aren't allies, we still fight the same enemy." Neji said as he turned to leave. "Tell Tenten and the others goodbye." he said before sprinting off after Sakura.

Sasuke and Naruto stood there as they watched their childhood friend leave their sight. Kakashi strolled up to the two. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "For whatever this tributes toward, they're telling the truth. Orochimaru sent me here to kill the royals so he can take over as king permanently. Neji should have been at the throne by the age of twenty-five. Only two years. Hinata would have been the queen in three years. Sakura and Sai can't rule because of their blood. This is the truth you two." Kakashi said,as he removed his hand from Naruto's shoulder. "You can keep the money, I won't kill them…I actually do have a heart." the mercenary said before leaving toward Neji's direction.

"So teme…Can we just let them go like that?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't answer.

In a tree near the two silent warrior, Kabuto smiled to himself as he replayed the scene he just witnessed in his head. _"So Neji's alive interesting…Plus, he's going to be with all his siblings, with me and Kakashi. Good work Kakashi, didn't know you could be such a fine actor." _

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**AN**: Sry it took a while to update… I got lazy, and drunk, and….well would you look at the time! I ran out of excuses! Ahhhhhh, don't kill me!


	4. New Arrangements

**AN: I don't own Naruto**

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 4 – New Arrangements…**

**---------------------------------------------------**

"Sakura-chan! Where the heck are you?" Sai called out as he, Hinata, and Neji searched for their sister.

"Where could she be?" Hinata asked, but found herself only talking to Neji. "Where's Sai?" Neji merely shrugged as he activated his byakugan.

"There you are." Sai said as he looked up in the treetops. Sakura was just sitting on one of the branches alone until Sai came up and sat next to her. "Why did you run away like a girl?"

"I didn't run like a-"

"Just answer me." Sai said.

"That bastard is just unbelievable."

"You shouldn't just judge others without knowing how they became like that. You know, walk around in his shoes for a while. But you're right…He's a bastard."

* * *

Deactivating her byakugan, Hinata told Neji where she spotted the two; they were heading that way until two people stood in their way.

"What do you want?" Neji asked.

* * *

"Oi." Kakashi said as he found Sakura and Sai in the tree. "You alright now?"

"Uh, yeah." Sakura said as she and Sai jumped down. "Sorry bout that." she said, a little embarrassed.

"No…..I should be the sorry one." Kakashi said, as he took out a jagged dagger from his side pouch.

"W-what are you doing with that?" Sakura stuttered seeing the emotionless face, Kakashi had put on suddenly.

"Sakura, move!" Sai said as he pushed Sakura to the side when Kakashi attempted to slash through her.

"But…Why are you-" Sakura began, but stopped in mid sentence when Kabuto jumped down from a nearby tree. The area around them turned dark.

"You bastard!" Sai said as he summoned some ink beasts.

"Hinata-chan! Ne-" Sakura yelled out, but Kabuto cut her off.

"We're in a genjutsu. Anyone outside of our group can't see nor hear us." Kabuto said with a smirk.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi said as he charged toward the two with Kabuto.

* * *

"I'll say this again. What do you want now?" Neji asked. From what Hinata could tell, Neji seemed to actually be sort of relaxed. She was surprised at her cousin's calmness toward Naruto and Sasuke, when only moments before, their friendship was thrown aside.

"Come on teme." Naruto said as he nudged Sasuke with his elbow. When he got no reaction from the Uchiha, Naruto just 'hmphed' and spoke for the both of them. "Neji….After everything that happened, after everything we faced through together…..HOW THE HELL CAN YOU JUST WALK AWAY FROM THAT!"

"What?" Neji asked in slight confusion. _"Isn't he and Sasuke the ones who-"_

"What the dobe really meant was that…we believe you." Sasuke said.

"Yeah. What he said." Naruto said.

Neji looked at Hinata, and she smiled at him. He then looked back toward his two friends and nodded. His way of saying he believed their words. Hinata couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness in her.

"Hey Hinata-chan." Naruto said, causing the younger Hyuuga to blush madly.

"Y-yes?" Hinata asked.

"Where's Sakura-chan and Sai?"

"Oh right!" Hinata said, surprised she forgot about her step siblings. "Byakugan!"

Hinata gave a very confused expression. "What's wrong?" Neji asked.

"I-I can't find them anywhere."

"What?...I'll check." Neji said as he looked around with his bloodline. Neji scowled when he saw that Hinata was right.

"They are gone…." Neji muttered.

* * *

"Take this!" Sai yelled as his ink beast engulfed Kabuto with its ink. Kabuto soon found the ink to be like a sticky rubber.

"Shit." Kabuto muttered when he found he couldn't move his body. Sakura came in with a right fist concentrated with a hell lot of charka. As she was close enough to strike, Kakashi grabbed her chakra infused fist and threw her to the side harshly. Sai's beast caught her in mid flight and brought her next to him.

"Thanks." She said as she looked ahead of her.

"I could have handled the situation Kakashi." Kabuto said as he easily got out of his ink trap.

"Well sorry for trying to save your ass." Kakashi said as he redirected his sharingan toward the royals.

"Why do you two still think you can win? Don't you understand we might be doing a favor for you?" Kabuto said.

"Favor!" Sakura said. Kabuto nodded and then put on a serious face.

"Even if you peasants do somehow defeat my lord, and Neji or Hinata takes the throne, what do you think will happen to you?"

"We know we aren't royal by blood, but we will stand by their side and protect them at all cost." Sai said reassuringly. Sakura agreed.

Kabuto seemed to be completely amused with Sai's statement. "You two are truly naïve." Both Sai and Sakura gritted their teeth. Kakashi just had a blank look on his face as he listened to their conversation. "The most you two could be to them are servants. There's no way for a woman or a street peasant to become guards. Or even knights for that matter. It's under law. Something you and I can agree upon."

"Neji-kun can-" but Sakura was cut off when Kabuto shook his head at her.

With a smirk he said, "You are pretty selfish aren't you?"

"…."

"Just because he's king, doesn't mean he would take any favors. What kind of king would that be? Changing the laws that were made from great kings of the past, just to make one woman happy? The people won't follow a king such as that. At least Orochimaru gives his people what they want. Power." Kabuto said seeing the light in Sakura's face become dim.

"Don't listen to him Sakura-chan." Sai said as he shook her by the shoulders, but she looked unconvinced.

"He's…Right." She muttered.

"Sakura-chan…"

"See she gets it, why can't you?" Kabuto asked.

Sai gritted his teeth. "Sakura-chan don't listen to him!" He said as he summoned another ink beast." _"We have to get out of here."_ He thought.

"Kakashi let's feed them to the buzzards." Kabuto said as he raced forward with his sword. Kakashi raced forward seconds after.

"Sakura!" Sai said as he and his ink beasts charged forward. Sakura seemed to snap out of it as she gripped her sword. She charged forward and went head to head with Kabuto with new found determination. Kakashi took Sai by surpise and sliced through his scroll, causing both his summoning to disappear.

Strike after parry, Kabuto still conversed with the pink haired girl. "I thought you really understood what I told you." He said as he dodged a swing to his left.

"Shut up. Even if what you said is true. I want to live at least long enough, to see my brother and sister on the throne again. I want for the kingdom to have a new order!" Sakura said. Sai smirked while fighting Kakashi, seeing that his sister had come back to reality.

Kakashi took out a scroll and bit the tip of his thumb. He wiped his cut onto the scroll and forced it onto the floor. Various symbols surrounded his hand as the ground started to rumble slightly. Sai, Sakura, and Kabuto alike were confused at what he was doing. Then out of nowhere, a random assortment of canines grabbed onto Sai, leaving him immobile.

"Sai!" Sakura yelled as she raced toward her brother, but was stopped when Kakashi appeared from behind her. He grabbed and held both of her rams behind her back. With his strength overpowering hers, she found that she couldn't move either. "Shit!" She thought, seeing her current situation. Kabuto smirked as he pointed his blade toward Sakura.

"You're going first, Kakashi hold he tight." Kabuto said as he charged forward.

Sakura began to panic. She used all the power she had to get away, but with Kakashi's hold on her, it seemed impossible. As Kabuto approached her, everything came into slow motion in her eyes. She could hear Sai's desperate words as he was forced to witness his sister's death. She watched as Kabuto got closer and closer to her, his blade gleaming with her still dripping blood. She wondered how death would feel, and saw her whole life in flashes. Right before Kabuto's sword plunged into her body she felt a cool rush of charka around her.

"Die!" Kabuto said as he stabbed through Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!" Sai yelled. In that same instant, Sakura's body puffed with smoke and turned into a log.

"Replacement jutsu!" Kabuto said in surprise.

"Chidori!" Kakashi yelled out as he shot his hand through Kabuto's chest.

* * *

"Where could they be?" Naruto asked as he looked around a couple of trees.

"Sharingan." Sasuke muttered. He looked around carefully as he and the others walked forward. After a couple of minutes of walking, Sasuke pointed far into a clearing. "There a huge concentration of charka around those trees." He said as he took out his sword.

* * *

The dogs that held Sai disappeared, but the look on his face didn't. _"What the fuck!"_

Kakashi retracted his hand out of Kabuto's body. Kabuto fell onto the floor lifelessly.

"I always hated that gay bastard." Kakashi said boringly, as he shook the blood off his hand. He then turned to Sai. "What's wrong with you? You should cut it out before your face stays like that."

"Where's Saku-" But Sai was cut off when he saw his sister jump down from a nearby tree. "Sakura, how did?…When did you learn the replacement jutsu?"

"I don't know how to do it. Kakashi-san did it for me." She said with a smiling face.

"What?...I thought you were on his side." Sai said pointing at Kabuto's dead form.

"First off, I'm never on anybody's side. Second, we made a deal didn't we? Third, that's not Kabuto, it's one of Orochimaru's rats." Kakashi said as he reached over and pulled of the flesh mask off an unknown guard. "I found out when I noticed he never used any medical jutsus to attack or heal."

"So where is the real one?" Sakura asked.

"Here." Kakashi said as he threw a small dagger straight at a tree behind them. To Sai and Sakura's surprise, the tree caught it.

"How disappointing Kakashi." Kabuto said as he did some hand signs and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The area around them seemed to light up again as the afternoon sun rested near the mountains.

"The genjutsu's gone." Sakura muttered.

"Sakura-chan, Sai-kun!" Hinata yelled as she and the others ran towards her.

"What happened!" Neji said, indicating the various injuries on the three, along with the blood soaked body on the floor near them.

"Uh…."Sakura began.

"That assassin came, and Kakashi helped take care of him." Sai said simply.

"Right." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, there we go." Sakura said with a smile, but them it disappeared when she saw Sasuke, and Naruto.

"I'm glad you guys are ok." Naruto said with a smile. Finding that Neji made up with the two, Sakura relaxed a little.

"Me too." She said smiling back.

"Let's go back home." Sasuke said as he turned away from the group and started walking.

"We'll have Tsunade baa-chan look at you three." Naruto said.

"Ok." Kakashi said as he, and the others followed Sasuke.

* * *

"Wow." Kakashi said as he entered the camp.

"Yeah, this place does have that affect." Naruto said as he walked ahead of the group. "BAA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled out. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Naruto, shut up! Some kids are sleeping!" Tenten warned as she approached the group. "What happened to you guys-"

"Tenten." Neji said, cutting her off. "Gather the others. We need to discuss something, now." He said with a serious tone.

"Right, you got it." Tenten then ran off into one of the large tents.

"You plan on telling everyone?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course. Hopefully, they won't take badly." Neji said as he went into the knights training building. The rest just followed. They entered a huge room with a lot of cracks and broken pieces of various furniture everywhere. It had torches every couple of feet that lit the room pretty well. There was only one window, well more like a huge hole on the side of a building. Ten minutes later, the entire room was filled with familiar faces. Sakura and the others could hear some whispers concerning Kakashi, along with why they were covered with injuries.

"Oi Neji! What's going on?" Kiba called out. His dog, Akamaru, barking in agreement.

"Shut up so he can speak, how troublesome." Shikamaru told the canine trainer.

When the room finally grew silent, Neji took his queue as he stepped forward from his group.

"Everyone, I believe that you will want to know the truth about some things." Neji began. Tenten looked panicked as the rest just looked confused. Neji then began to tell his past and what happen up till the reason why Kakashi would then live with them. Neji and the others seemed to be the ones who were surprised at the end of the story when he found that less than half the group didn't seem to mind what Neji just told them.

"Geez Neji. We thought you were going to do something drastic." Ino said as the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"You all knew, how?" Naruto asked. Neji stared at Tenten, but she gave a look of 'I would never!'.

"I told them!" Kiba shouted. Everyone looked at him. "What, Akamaru here can here them a mile away." Kiba said, pointing at Neji and Tenten.

"Hey no one told me!" Choji complained.

"That's because you wouldn't listen." Shino explained.

"No one told me either!" Lee said.

"…No one ever tells you anything Lee." Shikamaru said.

"Well that should really change!"

"Troublesome people these days."

"So are all of you ok with this?" Sasuke yelled out, stopping all the side conversations.

"Of course Sasuke-kun! If you're ok with it, so am I!" Ino said waving at the Uchiha.

"Then I suppose this meeting is over. Any questions, ask me or Sasuke." Neji said.

"Hey me too!" Naruto said.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he and the others left the room. Tenten said a quick 'bye' to Neji as she went with Choji to help out in the kitchens.

"So, where do I sleep?" Kakashi said, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Do you mind bunking with others?" Neji asked.

"If it's people I know, then no. Others, yes, I do mind."

"We don't have that much room in this camp so everyone has to share a place or tent with a couple of people."

"Why don't you four share a place with Kakashi? We can fill your empty spots with someone else." Sasuke said.

"Sure." Kakashi said.

"Me too." Naruto said. Everyone looked at him with a raised brow. "What? I know a great place near the ramen stand, but it has six rooms. I always wanted that place."

"Wait..Six?" Sasuke asked.

"Yup, you're coming with us."

"Hell no!" Both Sasuke and Skura said at the same time. Then they both glared at each other.

"No way am I going to live with you!" Sakura said.

"Well then, I guess you'll have to get used to it." Sasuke said smirking.

"Well that settles it. Let's get ramen!" naruto said, stopping both Sasuke and Sakura from continuing there fight.

"You seriously need to eat a different kind of food." Neji said as he called for Shino. Neji told him the make the arrangements, and he was off.

Dinner came and went. Sakura still didn't feel right about Sasuke, but she got used to Naruto, quick. When they got to their new home, Naruto was the first one to run into the 'actual' house and claim his room, which was nearest to the kitchen. Kakashi got the one across from the blond's and Sasuke got the one next to his. Sai chose the room next to Naruto's. Hinata chose the room with the scenery, two rooms from Sasuke, and Sakura was left with the room next to Sasuke's. _"Great."_ She thought. She could tell why Kakashi and Sasuke would like this side of the building. It was freakishly dark. _"Well actually, only half the room is dark. Hinata's so lucky. Her's is so bright, she doesn't even need a fireplace…And what's worse, I'm next to the cold asshole."_

* * *

Morning soon came and Sakura was rudely awoken by Naruto yelling. _"What the hell?"_ She thought as she placed her head under the blankets. Someone knocked on her wooden door, but she ignored it. The person kept knocking a little harder, and it annoyed her to no end.

"What do you people want?" Sakura asked as she sat up from her single person bed.

"Wake up already. You don't need beauty sleep, seeing that it woke work for you." The guy said from outside her door.

"What!" Sakura said as she grabbed her pillow. She went and swung the door open, at the same time smashing the pillow into the person's face. Feathers came out of the pillow from the impact and covered some of the persons raven hair. "Take that back Sai." She said. The pillow was still on the guys face. "Sai?" Sakura asked, wondering why he was acting so strange. When she pulled the pillow off from the person's face, she muttered 'crap' seeing that she was looking at a pissed of Uchiha. Second later, they both turned around when they heard someone laughing loudly.

"Haha, your head really does look like a chicken's ass!" Naruto said, pointing. Hinata, who was next to him, tried her best to muffle her laughter.

"I'd say that this is a good look for you Sasuke." Sai said as he walked out of the kitchen.

Sasuke looked back at Sakura before patting the feathers off his head.

"What's with all this damn noise?" Kakashi said as he came out of his room.

"Just telling Sakura that she's making breakfast." Sasuke said as he walked off.

"What!" Sakura said.

"Great. I'm starved!" Kakashi said as he walked over to the kitchen.

"….Fine." _"At least he didn't kill me or something."_ Sakura thought.

After breakfast, the group decided to go training. While getting ready to leave, someone knocked on the front door. Seeing that no one was going to get it Sakura said she would get it.

"Yes?" Sakura said before opening the door.

"Hi is my Sasuke-kun th- What the hell are you doing here forehead girl!" Ino said as she pointed at Sakura.

"What did you call me, you fatass pig!"

"How dare you!"

"Why are you so mad, that should be a compliment for you."

"You little." Ino then began to try and control herself from ripping off the pink haired girl's head. "Just tell me where my Sasuke-kun is!"

"He's-" Sakura was cut off when Sasuke stood behind her.

"Move it, you're blocking the way." He told Sakura.

"You can ask a little nicer." _"Ass" _she said as she moved aside.

"Oh my god! You're living with my Sasuke-kun!" Ino said outraged. Sakura just ignored the fuming blond as she and the others headed toward the training grounds outside camp. They met Neji along the way.

When they finally reached it, Kakashi took both Hinata and Neji to a different section to train their blood lines.

"Lets do two on two." Naruto suggested. When the four agreed naruto yelled, "I'm with Sakura-chan!"

"Hey! I don't want to be stuck with the teme." Sai protested.

"I don't want to be stuck with the loser either." Sasuke said.

"Just suck it in. Stop being a sissy." Naruto said.

"Can we just go already?" Sakura asked.

"Fine." The two said.

"Bring it on teme!" Naruto said as he took out his sword.

"I believe he's talking about you." Sai said as he summoned an ink creature.

"Shut up." Sasuke said as he unsheathed his sword, and activated his sharingan.

"I'm going to show that Uchiha a lesson for good." Sakura thought as she pulled her sword out from its cover.

* * *

"This should be a good fight, yeah. What do you think Sasori-san?" A blond haired knight in a black robe with clouds said to his partner.

"Just remember why we're here Deidara." Sasori warned.

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm not sure why Itachi would want us to watch his brother."

"That guy always has his reasons." Sasori told his partner. Deidara looked bored as he watched the four fight one another. Not even a minute into the battle, they saw the young Uchiha fly back ten yards.

"That girl sure does have a mean punch, yeah. Right Sasori-san?...Sasori-san?"

"Doesn't she and those other two look familiar?"

"A little, yeah. Why?" The two looked at Sakura, Sai, and Hinata.

"That girl, she's Hyuuga Hinata. The other two are the orphan peasants Kisame told us about. How did they get here? This isn't good."

"We should report this, yeah, but Itachi's going to get pretty pissed at Orochimaru. Those three are supposed to be dead, yeah."

"Let's get to the horses, there is a change in plans."

* * *

**AN: **I really can't excuse myself…can I?...Sry, been a little distracted. I hope u won't mind too much…hehehe….AH! Don't hurt me! I have fresh baked muffins! 


	5. Care to Dance?

**AN: I don't own Naruto….Some info are based on the old/new Naruto manga chapters.**

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 5 – Care to Dance?**

**---------------------------------------------------**

**A brief look at what happening…**

Sakura has been currently training under Tsunade, and gained her super strength. Sasuke learned the chidori. Naruto is still training his wind element. Both Neji and Hinata are close to understanding their bloodline's full potential from Kakashi.

* * *

"I would be most honored if you came to the celebration for our last win in the battle against those in grass." Orochimaru said as he sat down in his throne. The man he was talking to stood in front of him, wearing a long black cloak. His eyes blood red, as his face showed no emotion whatsoever. His sword hung loosely to his right side and his cloak concealed his other weapon on his left.

"Yes your highness." Itachi said as he turned around to leave. Making sure that the Akatsuki member left, Kabuto appeared from behind the long drapes that hung over the large windows.

"I see that went easily." Kabuto said as Orochimaru stood up.

"Yes indeed." Orochimaru said as he started to walk forward. "Are there any signs of the four children yet?" he asked as he glared at Kabuto.

"No." Kabuto said as his gaze lowered to the ground.

"Kabuto, now that all four of them are alive, this can cause problems that I don't want. You failed to kill them with that traitorous bastard, Kakashi, almost six months ago!" Orochimaru said, angered. Kabuto had a line of sweat on the side of his face. He felt his heart beat faster as the tension he felt between him and his lord grew. "For now, we will just have to put that on hold so we don't raise suspicions at the celebration in three days. I don't want those four to ruin my impression toward the other kings. Am I clear?"

"Yes your highness." Kabuto said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled out side both their doors, "Wake up! There's going to be a meeting. Teme and the others are already there." the blond then ran out the door of the house. After a few seconds, both Hinata and Sakura yelled "What?!". The two quickly got ready and rushed out of the house at the same time.

"I see all the knights have arrived." Neji said as both Hinata and Sakura entered the knight's training building. "Ok everyone. We have a new mission. Orochimaru's having a celebration party in his castle in a couple of days. We can take this opportunity to get information."

"And kick his ass!" Naruto added.

"Shut it dobe." Sasuke said.

"Most of you will come with me, and the rest has to stay here and help protect the camp. First, I'll take volunteers. Once called upon step up so it's easier to see the ratio. Alright, anyone up for it?" Neji asked. He smirked when he found everyone raising their hand.

"I'll choose." Sasuke said as he stepped forward.

"Sakura." Sakura was a bit taken back as she went up and stood next to Naruto. _"He chose me first?" _She thought.

"Hinata-chan, and Sai!" Naruto said. Sasuke just let it pass as some of the knights laughed lightly.

"Tenten, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, Shino, Ino, Choji." Sasuke said. "The rest of you, keep this place safe."

"Hai." The other knights said in unison.

After the other knight left, Neji and Sasuke told their team of their plan on infiltrating the castle.

"Ino, can you change everyone's appearance." Neji asked.

"Of course." She said.

"Shino, Kiba, Choji. You three will be the outside watch when we get in. You guys have to find a way to get us in and out. Shikamaru, you'll supervise all this." Sasuke said.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru said as he leaned against the wall.

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sai." You three have to lead us to Orochimaru's chamber, weapon's room, and the treasury." Naruto said.

"Got it!" Sakura said. Neji then turned to Kakashi who sat in the corner.

"I'll meet you there a little after. I need to take care of some _things_." Kakashi said.

"Just don't be too late, like for training." Naruto said.

* * *

"Now you all know the plans. I don't want Orochimaru to interfere with them." Itachi said. 

"We got it, no sweat yeah." Deidara said.

"So what about the young royals. They're bound to be there." Sasori said.

"That goes for your younger brother too." A large man with blue skin said. He carried a huge sword on his back and he wore the same cloak as the other. His face was almost shark-like.

"Don't worry about that Kisame. My brother's a weak fool." Itachi said.

* * *

On the day of the celebration, Neji and the others rode their horses to the kingdom.

"Everyone ready?" Naruto asked. Everyone nodded.

"Let's go." Sasuke said as he got off his horse. The others mimicking his action.

Neji and the others made sure that their disguises were convincing before going in through the gates. When they reached the castle doors someone yelled "You bunch, hault." A guard said as Hinata walked past one guard. Naruto was about to panic, but kept his mouth shut.

"What is the matter, my good sir." Tenten asked with all the politeness she possessed. The guard smile and said, "You all have to wear a mask to enter." Sakura and the rest looked around to see that the people entering and leaving had small white masks that covered only the first half of their faces.

"Oh." Tenten said. The guard then handed Tenten ten masks as he let her and the other enter.

"No one said anything about masks." Lee said.

"Sorry, I didn't really look into that. I was too busy getting all the girl's dresses and the guy's clothes ready." Ino apologized.

"Great job." Sai said. Ino just smacked him against the head.

"Don't worry, and by the way, these dresses are gorgeous." Hinata commented.

"I guess, even I can agree to that." Sakura said. Hinata wore a long light tan colored gown, while Sakura had a dark red dress. Tenten wore a black dree while Ino had a lavander colored dress on.

"Well I'm glad you like it forehead girl." Ino said.

"I wish my hair wasn't dyed brown though." Sakura muttered.

"I just hope Choji and the other two don't get into any trouble." Shikamaru said as the group walked on, while putting on their masks.

* * *

"Oi Shino, did they get in yet?" Kiba asked as he and Akamaru sniffed the air.

"Yes." Shino answered after his bugs confirmed the information.

"I'm hungry." Choji said as he brought a small sac of dried potato slices.

"How the heck can you eat on a mission like this?" Kiba asked.

"How can you not eat when you're hungry?"

"We ate before we left."

"Well a guy can have a snack can't he?

_"Why did I get stuck with these two?" _Shino thought.

* * *

"It's going to look weird if ten people stand in a group not doing anything." Sai said.

"You're right. Get into pairs, and do whatever until I give the signal. Then we'll go find those rooms." Neji said.

"What's the signal?" Naruto asked. Everyone sweat dropped.

"When you see me stand in front of that window, you six go for it. The four of us will them keep the people in here occupied." Lee said. "I'll signal Shino from there."

"Alright then, everyone have it?" Shikamaru asked.

"Of course!" Ino said. "Sasuke-kun! Let's dance." Ino said as she grabbed his arms. Sasuke was caught off guard, but danced with her so not to raise suspicion.

"What a pig." Sakura mumbled as she just stood near Sai.

"Jealous are we?" Sai said.

"No." Sakura answered. "Besides, I was never good at dancing anyways."

"I know. You did always stepped on my feet when we had classes here."

"That's because I did it on purpose."

"You're a sad little person aren't you."

"Tenten, do you-" but Neji was cut off when Tenten hooked her arm with his and headed off into the crowd of people.

"Hey Sakura-chan! You want to dance?" Naruto asked. Sakura saw Hinata's sad expression from the corner of her eye. "Um, I rather sit this song out. Why don't you ask Hinata-chan?" Sakura suggested.

"Sure! May I have this dance." Naruto asked very gentleman like to Hinata while giving her his hand. Hinata bushed like crazy as she took his offer and stepped onto the old ballroom floor.

" I need to go get ready. Have fun in the meantime Sakura-san." Lee said as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Be careful." Sakura said.

"I need to go analyze the situation. Don't do anything troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Don't worry you know me." Sai said. Shikamaru gave a doubtful look and then left.

"I'm going to go look around the room for a bit. I'm bored. You want to join me?" Sai asked.

"Nah, I ok here." Sakura said. Sai just shrugged and left, disappearing into the crowd of people.

Sakura just looked at the happy people all around her. It started to remind her of the old days when Hiashi was still alive, and had parties or gatherings like these. _"I wish it was as peaceful as it was back then. Damn that Orochimaru…"_ Sakura thought as she let out a sigh.

"May I have this dance?" Someone said in a low voice. Breaking from her thoughts, Sakura looked up to see a man wearing a dark tuxedo. She couldn't see who it was because of his mask, but could tell that he somehow reminded her of someone. She was a little uncomfortable about the heavy gaze he had on her, but remembered about the mission at hand. He extended out his hand to her and she accepted it. The orchestra played a nice slow, easy rhythm, as Sakura and her new dance partner stepped onto the dance floor. After a minute or two, the stranger asked, "Why were you sitting down, when you dance so divinely?" Sakura blushed at the comment, but it quickly disappeared when she saw Neji glaring at the man.

Sasuke was getting annoyed from Ino's clinginess as decided to just look around. He looked to where their group used to be and found no one there. _"Where's Sakura and the rest?" _He thought. He later found Shikamaru talking to some people, Lee giving some timid looking guys a speech about god knows what, and Sai walking around like an idiot. He continued to survey the area until he saw Neji constantly glaring at a guy dancing with Sakura….wait what?!

"Who is that?" Sasuke said. Ino looked in the direction he was looking at.

"I never saw him before." Ino said. _"But he's hot!" _Ino thought.

"I've never seen you around here before." the guy said to Sakura. "Do you live around here?"

"I, uh, my family lived here a while ago, but we moved outside the kingdom." Sakura answered.

"I see." The guy said as his face neared hers. Sakura almost looked a little panicked, but didn't want to make a scene. Only inches away from her face he asked, "What's your name?"

Neji couldn't control his brotherly instincts as he saw the stranger's face near Sakura's. He stopped dancing with Tenten and walked quickly toward the two. He spotted Sai and told him to dance with Tenten. Sasuke stopped dancing and his sharingan activated when he saw the same thing.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" Ino asked, seeing his blood colored eyes. He didn't answer her until he saw Neji heading toward them. As his sharingan disappeared he muttered 'nothing' as he continued dancing with Ino, but kept Sakura within his sight.

"My name is, umm-" but Neji cut her off.

"We have to go eat now." Neji said as she pulled Sakura lightly away from the guy. "We should meet the others at the table." Neji said as he gave one last glare before leaving.

"It was nice dancing with you. By the way, my name is-" The stranger was cut of by Sasuke and Ino.

"Come on, we need to go. You can speak with him later." Sasuke said as he took Sakura's hand as pulled her away from the dance floor. When they got to the tables with Neji, Tenten, and Sai, they started to ask questions.

"What do you think you were doing?" Sasuke asked.

"What? I was just dancing with that-" Sakura began.

"You were about to tell him your name." Neji said with crossed arms.

"I was going to tell him a different one."

"Neji, Sasuke. You two are being way to-" Tenten began.

"We don't know who his is. For all we know, he could be a spy for Orochimaru." Sai said.

"Sai you too?" Sakura said.

"You guys are being way too over protective." Ino said. _"She's defending me?" _Sakura thought. "She's twenty-two. She's old enough not to have you guys saving her from the man world."

"Hmph." Sasuke said as he crossed his arms.

"Thanks." Sakura whispered to both Tenten and Ino.

Naruto then came up to the group with Hinata. "He you guys, Shikamaru said it's time." Naruto said as they looked at the window to see Lee right next to it.

"Alright let's go." Neji said. "Tenten, Ino. Go get Shikamaru and Lee. You four make sure things go smoothly on the inside. Tell if Kiba or the others see any trouble.

"Got it." The two said as they went of into the crowd of people.

"Sakura." Saskue said. "You and me are going to find Orochimaru's chamber.

"Naruto, you and Hinata go find the treasury. Me and Sai will looked for the weapon's storage room." Neji said. They all agreed and left in all three directions.

* * *

"Did you have fun Itachi." Sasori asked with a smirk. Itachi just walked right past him and sat across from him. 

"She's pretty, yeah." Deidara said.

"She's one of the orphans." Itachi said.

"What? Why didn't you get rid of her?" Kisame asked.

"Here? Now?" was all Itachi said. Kisame took a few moments an then agreed to his partner's decision.

"You're damn slow, yeah." Deidara said.

"I know what they're planning, and if we do things accordingly it will help our plans." Itachi said.

* * *

"Sasuke, I'm sorry if I endangered our mission." Sakura apologized as they walked through the dark stone hallways, dimly lighted by dying torches.

"No…I think that…maybe we took it too-" But Sasuke stopped when they heard footsteps coming their way. They found the closest door and went inside. Sakura thanked god for it being unlocked. The footsteps passed them, Sakura froze when she heard one of them speak.

"All the kings and queens from the other countries are here Orochimaru-sama." Sakura heard Kabuto say.

"Good, it's about time that there should be only one ruler." Orochimaru said.

* * *

"So Itachi, when do we release the beast? Kisame asked.

"It's getting really pissed staying here, yeah." Deidara said as the large lizard burned thetree next to him.

"We'll release the dragon soon, after my brother finishes his job of getting the information and _people_ we need out." Itachi answered.

* * *

**AN**: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..anyone has any suggestions they would like to share…? 


	6. Some History Revealed…

**AN: I don't own Naruto. **

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 6 –Some History Revealed…**

**---------------------------------------------------**

"Hey Neji. This place sucks." Sai said as he looked through the collection of swords with boredom.

"This can't be it." Neji said as he opened a large brown chest.

"What kind of diabolical king keeps all this crap within his walls?" Sai said as he picked up a small dagger of gold. Sai just sat down on a wooden stool and twirled the small dagger in his hand.

"Stop fooling around Sai." Neji said as he looked through more chests.

"I'm not fooling around." Sai said as he started to slice through the air with the dagger.

"Yes you are." Neji said with a stern look. Sai just gave him a stubborn look.

"Che, I don't even think it's here." Sai said as he threw the dagger behind him.

"Hey, don't-" but Neji stopped when the dagger went straight threw the curtains and made a small 'thunk'.

"What the hell?" the two said in unison.

Neji walked over the curtains and moved them aside. The dagger was sticking out of the stone wall behind it. "How can this dagger cut through the wall?" Neji said as he reached for the golden blade. HHHHe grabbed the handle and pulled on it, but Neji found it surprisingly difficult. "Son of a-"

"Here I'll do it." Sai said as he reached for the dagger. After a tug or two, he just turned to Neji and asked, "I couldn't have thrown it that hard could I?" Neji just let out a sigh and activated his byakugan.

"Hmph. It's a small painted chest with charka around it." Neji said as he deactivated his blood line. "Clever bastard."

"See, I wasn't fooling around." Sai said as he took out his sword. He felt the dimensions of the chest and slowly started to wedge his sword's tip against its sides.

"I wonder if Sakura-chan and the other's are having this much luck." Neji said as he opened the small chest.

* * *

"Hey Hinata-chan, how are you holding up?" Naruto asked as he and the Hyuuga princess looked around the treasury. 

"Alright." Hinata said as she looked through a couple of scrolls.

"Hey! I found it!" Naruto said excitedly as he pulled out a scroll from under a large pile. "Perfect, it's all he-" but the blond knight was pummeled by the pile of scrolls. "Kuso…" he muttered out.

"Oh Naruto-kun…" Hinata muttered as she sweat dropped.

* * *

"I think they're gone." Sasuke said as he and Sakura stood next to the door. Sasuke pushed the door open and stepped outside.

"We have to tell Neji-kun and the others about Orochimaru's plan for all these people." Sakura said as she walked down the hallway.

"They don't concern our mission. Who cares if a bunch of nobles or other royals get what they deserve." Sasuke said as he walked in a slightly quicker pace.

"How can you say that?" She said a little surprised at the Uchiha's coldness. "They're people too, and they're in danger. On top of that, if Orochimaru gets his way, who knows what the heck he'll do!" Sakura said.

"What can we do then? You tell me what to do with those damn royals." Sasuke asked as he stopped walking.

"If you forgotten, Neji-kun, Sai-kun, Hinata-chan, and I are royals." Sakura said as her temper started to rise.

"Your four have no power over these people, how can you call yourselves royals? You are also an orphan. Both you and Sai. Royalty comes by blood. You don't know the life of a true royal."

"I've been living with the royal Hyuuga family and Sai for almost my entire life. I may not be family by blood, but they are my family nonetheless."

"Well excuse me my lady." Sasuke said as he bowed. "I didn't know that you were so ignorant, that you can't understand that no matter how much you may think the Hyuuga's are your family, they can't ever truly **be** your family." Sakura looked at him with anger. "Those damn pests who think they all own everything that men stand upon. Those vermin who only pleases the wealthy and leave the poor to die…those bastards that…that are so pathetic that they would send an army to kill everyone you knew and loved just because they fear a small uncertain threat towards their power?!"

"Sa-Sasuke…Is that what happened to you?" Sakura said as tears were at the brim of her eyes. "Did the Hyuugas kill the entire Uchiha guild, except you and your brother?" Sasuke looked straight into her eyes. Sakura couldn't help but feel vulnerable under his blood red sharingan staring at her. The tension grew uncomfortable as Sakura waited for his answer.

"Yes. But unfortunately, my brother was one of the ones that help destroy my guild." Sasuke said as he looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry Sasuke…" was all Sakura managed to say. _"Why would his own brother kill everyone they both knew?" _She thought. "My family was killed too, but by rogues and bandits. I was just old enough to remember everything. Houses were on fire, the ground itself glowed with the villager's blood. I didn't know people could bleed so much. Everyone was screaming, and crying. My father's head was severed while trying to protect me and mother. I was able to get out of the chaos and into the forest with her, but we were being followed the whole time."

**Flashback**

**_"Please don't kill her, she's only a child!" Sakura's mother begged as the bandit pulled his sword out of her stomach. Blood oozed onto the floor as Sakura's mother moved over to where the frightened girl stood frozen. She wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace muttering 'it's going to be ok' over and over again in shallow breaths._**

_**"Mother!" Sakura cried as she hugged her. **_

**_"There can't be any survivors from this village." Said the rogue with an emotionless tone. "May you find peace in the afterlife."_**

_**"NOOOOO!!!" Sakura's mother screamed as she turned her back to the rogue and covered Sakura. The sword cut through her once more, but missed Sakura. In he last moments of life, Sakura's mother knocked Sakura out hoping to fool the rogue. Before falling into the world of darkness, Sakura remember her mother's last and final words. "Live a good long life Sakura. Like a Haruno should." **_

**End flashback**

"It seems that our pasts are alike, but our paths are different." Sasuke said sadly.

"I guess so…I remember a soldier taking me to the castle the night it happened. There was a boy there too. It turned out we were two surviving children during the rampage. The other child was Sai, but the weird thing was, I've never seen him before. We lived in the same village, but I guess I never met him." Sakura said with a sad smile as Sasuke looked at her. The two started to walk forward as she continued telling about her past. "While waiting in a large, most beautifully furnished room I've seen in my life, I heard a couple of guards mention two things, White Fang and Yamato. Those two were the leaders of the bandits. I can never forget those names."

Sasuke just looked at her with emotionless eyes. "It's funny, I've never told anyone about this, not even my part of the story to Sai." Sakura said as she turned a dark corner. "Here it is. We finally got to the weapon's storage." As Sasuke held the huge wooden door's handle he turned to Sakura. Sakura's eyes shined from the held back tears, as she managed to suppress them. Sasuke then moved away from the door and gave Sakura a small warm embrace. Sakura's eyes widened as her body froze.

"I know exactly how it felt to lose them." He said as he kept her close to him.

"Sas-Sasuke…thank you." Sakura whispered as released his embrace and turned back to the large door. Sasuke started to push the door, as it slowly opened.

"This door's really heavy." Sasuke said as he paced both hands against it and push it.

"This storage is huge so we might take a while to fin-OH SHIT!" Sakura said as she and Sasuke stood there frozen.

"What the hell is **that** doing here?!" Sasuke said as he kicked the door closed.

* * *

**AN: Sry if the chapter's short, but I'm trying to work up and ending on some of my other stories. Thx again for reading, and I'm always up for any suggestions! **


	7. Plans In Motion

-**AN: I don't own Naruto. **

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 7 – Plans In Motion...  
**

**---------------------------------------------------**

Naruto, Hinata, Sai and Neji made it back to the ball room at the same time. Making sure not to look conspicuous, they scattered across the dance floor.

Sasuke and Sakura ran down the corridors panting heavily as the headed towards the ball room. When the two started to hear music playing they started to slow down to a brisk walk.

Panting Sakura faced Sasuke. "What about acquiring the new weapons?" She asked as they both stopped at the entrance to the ball room.

"We'll have to over look it for now. We have to tell everyone about that _thing _Orochimaru has in the weaponry." Sasuke said as he grabbed his mask out of his pocket and put it on, Sakura doing the same. "In the mean time, we should all leave now." Both Sasuke and Sakura entered the ball room.

"What about what Orochimaru and Kabuto said? We can't just-" but Sakura was cut of when the music abruptly stopped, and some screams were heard.

"Shit." Sasuke muttered, as he and Sakura ducked under the crowd. As they lowered themselves to the ground, they saw Sai and the others who were doing the same.

"Guests of Konoha, Lord Orochimaru wishes to make a proposal." Kabuto called out. Orochimaru walked in front of him and smiled sinisterly to the frightened crowd.

"I wish for all of our lands to form the ultimate alliance." Orochimaru began. Murmurs were heard through the crowd. Many of the kings wore scowls.

"I will say this once and only once. I, King of Konoha as well of three of the five great nations, will now declare rule over all of these lands." The instant he stopped, roars of protests filled the ball room.

_"WHAT?!" _Neji and the rest thought. Sasuke and Neji immediately signaled to the others to get the hell out of there. Each caught the signal and looked for a way out. Naruto and Hinata made it to the windows. Hiding behind the long drapes, Naruto signaled to Shino about the situation. Understanding, Shino alerted Kiba and Chouji, then the three looked for another way in.

"I'll never give up my kingdom!" A king from the south yelled.

"Neither will I!" A queen yelled out.

"Nor all of us!" One after another protested.

"Hm. I figured as much so I prepared." Orochimaru said, as he nodded to Kabuto. Kabuto raised his arm, and every open hallway was soon clattering with the sound of metal. No less than a minute later, the room was surrounded by hundreds of armed guards.

"I think everyone here may reconsider." Orochimaru said with a smirk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oi, Itachi. Should we start now?" Kisame asked.

"No, not until my brother makes the first move." Itachi said as he looked around.

"Only 173 guards are present, yeah." Deidara said as he placed his hand into a pocket full of clay.

"I'll retrieve the beast and the weapon." Sasori said as he walked and disappeared into the frightened group of royals.

"Are you sure that it's time?" Kisame asked.

"Just stick to the plan and everything will go on accordingly. Just take the heiress along with the scroll with the weapon's instructions and we're getting out of this place, yeah." Deidara said as he pulled out four clay spiders from his pocket.

"I still don't see why we have to kidnap some girl." Kisame said.

"We need a main branch Hyuuga with the blood-line technique." Itachi said as he and Deidara started to head away from the now cowering crowd.

"Why do-"

"How else are we going to use that weapon, yeah?" Deidara said, cutting off Kisame.

"Deidara, keep an eye out for my brother's comrades. Kisame, you take the girl." Itachi ordered before disappearing. _"I'll deal with my brother."_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Neji, where are the others?" Shikamaru whispered as the guards glared at them.

"Don't know, but we better find them now." Neji said as he saw who were missing.

"Naruto, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Ino, Tenten, and the ass aren't here." Sai said.

"Looks like we won't get out of here unnoticed. How troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"I know Sasuke will keep it to a minimal, but Naruto on the other hand." Neji said.

"Yeah, might as well bring in a dragon." Shikamaru said.

"Either way, when Sasuke starts-" Shikamaru began.

_-Across the room-_

"-We get the hell out of here." Sasuke told Sakura as the continued to look through the crowd of people.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"N-naruto-kun, what do we do now?" Hinata asked as she and Naruto stood still behind the drapes.

"We just wait till Sasuke blows something up." Naruto said with a grin. He kept the scroll securely in his pocket as he peeked through the drapes.

"B-blow something-?" Hinata asked before a huge explosion took place.

"What the hell?! I didn't mean it literally!" Naruto said with wide eyes. People in the room screamed and scattered as part of the stone walls were blown off and the decorations caught fire.

"What's going on?" Hinata asked as she stared at the blazing fire.

"You really shouldn't concern yourself with something like that princess." Kisame said as he appeared in front of Hinata.

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"Kabuto! What is going on?!" Orochimaru hissed as the guards and royals alike ran out of the castle. "Deal with this at once."

"Hai!" Kabuto said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I guess even Sasori couldn't handle that damn thing, yeah." Deidara said as he watched Sasori walk out from the small wall of fire. Sasori just scowled as he approached Deidara.

"Only Uchihas came make it stay still." Sasori said. "Powerful Uchihas."

"Well anyways, let's get this plan into action, yeah." Deidara said as he transported his clay spiders to the four corners of the room.

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"Tenten, Ino. There you two are!" Shikamaru shouted over the commotion.

"What the hell's going on?!" Ino shouted back as she and Tenten ran over to the small group.

"Never mind that, we have to find the rest and get out of here." Neji said as he activated his byakugan. "It's the Akatsuki." Neji said as he continued to scan the ball room.

"What the heck are they doing here?!" Tenten said. Everyone else equally shocked except for Sai.

"Akatsuki?" Sai said questionably.

"A small guild of powerful rogue knights. They only listen to each other, and take no command from anyone else. No one knows where they live, what their main purposes are, but whatever they are it's obviously won't be good for us. We only know a couple of their members. Kisame, an ex-captain from the mist country. Killed his own soldiers in a battle against Konoha a decade ago. Sasori, a strange puppet user. Attempted to assassinate the King of Suna seven years ago. Almost succeeded too. Deidara, he control small explosives. Blew up his entire home village, and claimed that it was an art project of his. And last but not least, Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke's older brother. You should know the story by now. Each committed terrible crimes from treason to-" Neji began.

_-From across the room.-_

"-To killing entire guilds." Sasuke explained to Sakura as he glared at the man Sakura was dancing with earlier. The man in front of him smirked as he took off his mask.

"Been a while, little brother." Itachi said.

"That's Uchiha Itachi?" Sakura whispered as she stared into his blood red eyes. No one answered as she felt tension form between the brothers.

"What the hell do you want?" Sasuke said in a low voice. His eyes turning blood red as well.

"I'm just here to keep you from interfering." Itachi said.

"From what?" Sasuke asked, but before he could answer something huge came from the smoke behind Itachi. Both Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened when they found that the thing from the weaponry got out.

"Why are you afraid Sasuke? Not strong enough to control dragons yet? How pathetic." Itachi said. A huge black dragon walking on all four legs with a pair of wings as tall as the grand entrance stood behind Itachi. It's dark yellow eyes trained on Sasuke. Two sharp fangs overlapped its bottom lip, two straight sharp horn coming out from the top of its head. Steam emitting out of it's nostrils with every breath. The dragon's tail slowly swished from side to side. The massive claws cutting into the stone floor.

_"We're in trouble." _Sasuke thought. Trying to see a way to get them both out of harm's way. "Sakura, run while you still can. I'll hold them both off." Sasuke unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Itachi. "Go."

"Damnit Sasuke, are you crazy?!" Sakura said. Sasuke just looked at her, annoyed.

"Stop being so stub-"

"Stop trying to be my knight in shining armor. If you're going to fight, so am I!" Sakura said as she unsheathed her sword.

"How did hide that in your-"

"No time for questions, let's fight." Sakura said as she gripped her sword tightly.

"Foolish woman. You should of taken my brother's offer while you had the chance." Itachi said before the dragon aimed a blazing stream of fire straight at the two.

"Sasuke!"

"Sakura!"

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**AN: Sry I took so long, but I'm finally ending my other story, Between Onyx and Silver. I'm writing it right now. I know that this chapter was really short, and for u Kakashi fans don't worry! I didn't forgethim!...Hehehehe...So thanks for being so freakishly patient! -Ja ne! **


	8. Captured

-**AN: I don't own Naruto. **

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 8 – Captured...**

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Cries of fear and confusion engulfed the room as everything seemed to come ablaze with roaring flames. All the exits were blocked off by Deidara's clay spiders. The thread of them exploding kept the people away from them. Orochimaru and Kabuto had vanished from the scene as countless royals blindly ran around the room looking for a safe route out of the castle. The guards, fighting a losing battle, soon fell to the ground one by one.

"Sakura-chan!" Neji called out as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"Damn it. Get out of the way!" Sai yelled as he summoned some ink lions. Almost immediately, the crowd of royals moved away from them, except one individual.

"I can't have you bother Itachi, now can I, yeah?" Deidara said with a smirk.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered before he, Neji, and Sai charged forward.

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"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled as he pushed her out of the sword's way. His arm fell limp and the blond knight felt a wave of panic as he dodged another swing.

"Fun isn't it?" Kisame said with a grin. "I see you can feel my sword's affects already. My sword has the ability to suck all the chakra right out of your body."

"Shit." Naruto cursed as he stood in front of Hinata protectively.

"N-Naruto-kun...I can fight-" Hinata began.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I won't let this fish bastard touch you!" Naruto exclaimed as he summoned three clones. Hinata blushed as Naruto's clones advanced toward the Akatsuki member.

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"Neji!" Tenten said as she saw him fight with Deidara. Ino at her side, the two went to aid their comrades, but they were forced to stop their advance as Sasori appeared in front of them.

"Move aside." Ino commanded, but as soon as that was said, a shower of what they knew was poisonous needles, flew straight at them. Ino jumped out of the way as Tenten, blocked the ones aimed at her with a swing of her sword. Sasori then revealed his puppet, with chakra strings attached to his fingers. The large human sized doll was covered with all sorts of weapons. Tenten, only smirked at the sight of it.

"If it's a weapons battle you want, that's just what you're going to get." Tenten said as she sheathed her sword and took out two summoning scrolls.

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"Do you plan to run all day?" Itachi asked as his brother and Sakura dodged the dragon's flame.

"Silence!" Sasuke yelled as he lunged toward his brother. He jumped with his sword over his head. He stroke down only to have his sword clash with Itachi's. They were now at a stalemate, two pairs of blood red eyes glaring at one another.

"Still pathetic as ever. If only you could see how those bonds you hold so dearly are absolutely worthless." Itachi said mockingly as he started to push Sasuke back with only one hand.

"Why the hell are you here?!" Sasuke said as he stopped Itachi's advance.

"Nothing of your concern."

"It's my concern when you're endangering my comrades." Sasuke's hands began to shake as his strength began to drain from his arms.

"Hinata-chan?!" Naruto yelled from across the room.

"Hinata-chan?" Sakura said as she frantically searched for her sister, while dodging the giant lizard's relentless attacks. Then she spotted her. Hinata's slump form was being carried by a large blue made with an unusually large sword. "Hinata-chan!" Sakura yelled panicked. When she was distracted, the dragon was able to get a clean swipe at her arm with its razor sharp claws.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said as he jumped back from his brother. He ran to help her, but Itachi caught him in another stalemate.

"That'll just be one less bond for you, brother." Itachi said as he watched Sasuke become enraged.

Sakura healed what she could as she jumped from left to right. She then saw the blue man that was holding Hinata, pin one of Naruto's shoulder with his sword to the floor. Naruto's pained screams made something in Sakura snap. She gripped her sword tightly, her knuckles turning white. She glared at the beast before her and charged at full speed.

"Get out of my way!" Sakura yelled as she slammed her fist onto the floor just before she could reach the dragon. On contact, the floor began to form fissures as different sections started to rise and sink into the ground. The dragon fell into a huge crater, and Sakura took the opportunity to help Hinata and Naruto.

Both Sasuke and Itachi seemed to be in a small state of confusion. _"Was that Sakura?"_ Sasuke thought, as he saw the destruction made with one punch.

_"Her strength matches that of the legendary Sannin, and she was able to do that with the arm she healed only seconds before. Interesting."_ Itachi thought as he kicked his brother in his stomach. Sasuke shot backward, a small trail of blood escaping his lips as he crashed onto the floor.

"Hey you blue bastard let them go!" Sakura ordered as she slashed her sword as Kisame.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said before going unconscious from the loss of blood. Kisame was able to block her attack with his sword just in time. Sakura took notice of the fresh warm blood dripping from the tip of his sword.

"You're going to pay for that." Sakura muttered.

"What is a young lacy such as yourself wielding a sword?" Kisame said smirking. He then pulled his sword towards him, confusing Sakura. The large sword then cut the side of her cheek along with the top of her left shoulder. "My samehada doesn't cut, it shaves!" Kisame said as he swiped his sword at her again. Sakura tried to parry the attack, but the samehada easily broke through her sword and slashed her diagonally across her chest.

"Sakura-chan?!" Neji called out as he and Sai ran towards her.

"Good-bye." Kisame said mockingly as he swung his sword down for the killing blow, but his sword was caught only a inch away from her face as someone grabbed Kisame's wrist.

"What's the meaning of this Itachi?" Kisame asked, obviously pissed from not being able to kill the girl.

"We're taking her as well. Now stop this at once and retreat." Itachi said in an emotionless tone.

"Why-"

"Inform Deidara and Sasori." Itachi said cutting Kisame off. Itachi whistled a short sharp note, and no sooner was the dragon at his side.

"Sakura-chan!" Both Neji and Sai called out as they pulled out their sword. Their advance was stopped though, by the dragon's flames. Surrounded by a wall of fire, the two could only watch as both Sakura and Hinata was placed on the dragon's back. The giant lizard pointed it's head toward the ceiling and shot one huge fireball. The roof collapsed as the dragon too flight. Both Itachi and Kisame grabbed hold of it's tail right before its decent. On cue, Deidara followed after them with Sasori, riding one of his clay birds.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called out as he watched them disappear into the sky.

----------------------------

**AN: **I know it's short, but I plan to update after I study for my god forsaken AP tests! –angry people- (That's no excuse!) –Gets smacked silly- **PS I'm also having problems with Fanfiction...I have to use my school's computer to upload my stories...it took me about two weeks to find that out, hence the long delay...Aw, damn...my teachers stare at me more now...**


	9. Rescue Plans

AN: I don't own Naruto.

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 9 – Rescue plans...**

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"Go to hell!" Sakura yelled at the cloaked figure as she struggled with the ropes binding her arms behind her back. Both her and Hinata were bound and tossed in to different cells in an abandoned castle as soon as they got there. Their cells faced each other, as one Akatsuki member stood in between them.

"Sa-sakura-chan..." Hinata muttered, watching her sister in the cell opposite of her.

"You're a very stubborn wench aren't you?" The Akatsuki member said with a frown.

"Exactly, now move along you red haired-" but Sakura was cut off when someone opened the old wooden dungeon door.

"What do you want Deidara?" Sasori asked not even looking at him.

"Just checking how you're doing Sasori, yeah." Deidara said as he walked to his partner.

"Stop playing around with her highness and the-" Deidara began.

"Playing?!" Sasori asked in an irritated tone.

"Uhh, anyways, Itachi calls for you. So you better go, yeah!" Deidara said.

"Hn." Sasori said, glaring at Deidara before leaving.

"Phew. That was close yeah." Deidara said to both girls, but just received looks of confusion. "Well anyways, it's Sakura-san and Hinata-san am I correct, yeah?"

Both Sakura and Hinata nodded, still confused about how this Deidara guy was acting. The last time they checked, he was a bomb happy nut.

"Well I'm guessing Sasori only argued with you two, so I'll be taking over. First off, let's start this again; I don't like talking with a lot of tension, yeah." Deidara said grinning.

_"He doesn't seem too bad."_ Sakura thought. By the look on Hinata's face, she thought the same thing.

"Also, since Kisame already drained all of your chakra with his sword, there's no need for those ropes, yeah." Deidara said grabbing a dagger in his clay pouch. He cut them both loose, knowing they weren't stupid enough to fight him. "Now, that's better right?"

"Yeah. Thanks Deidara." Sakura said rubbing her sore wrists.

"Th-thank you." Hinata said.

Deidara then turned his attention to Sakura. He placed his knuckles under his chin as he looked at her, and then smiled.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sakura asked, feeling a little uneasy.

"I can now understand why lord Itachi saved and brought you. You're really pretty, yeah." Deidara said grinning.

"What?!" Sakura said, her eye twitching. Sakura stood up and grabbed the rusty metal bars of her cell, glaring at Deidara. "You mean I'm only here to be his whore?!" Sakura yelled in anger. Hinata gasped. Deidara then started to break down laughing.

"Wh-what is so humorous about that?" Hinata asked.

"The day lord Uchiha gets himself a girl, a whore nonetheless, is the day Kisame becomes prince charming, yeah!" Deidara said as he continued laughing. He eventually stopped with a sigh. "It's been a while since I laughed so much. I like you already, yeah."

"Why exactly are we here then?" Sakura asked, calming down.

"Well for her highness," Deidara said pointing at Hinata, "I can't tell you, but why Sakura-san's here is what I'm trying to find out as well. I know lord Uchiha won't tell me directly, so I'm going to try to find this out right now, yeah."

"Lord Uchiha?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. He's the leader of Akatsuki now, our old one, well he was a bit annoying, yeah." Deidara said. "Ok, enough of that, now I just need some questions answered Sakura-san." Sakura just gripped the bars tighter before she slid to her knees. "Don't worry, after this I'll get you two some supper, yeah." Deidara said reassuringly with a smile. "And I make great mash potatoes!"

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"How could I let them get captured like that?!" Neji yelled as he paced his tent back in the camp.

"Neji, calm down. It's late, you should get some rest." Tenten said in a concerned tone. Neji stopped pacing, but didn't face Tenten, not wanting her to see his guilty face. "We all miss them, and we're worried, but we can't do anything right now. We need to heal up and then find Sakura and Hinata in top condition. Think of the others still here. We feel the same way."

"But they're my only family..." Neji said eyes downcast. Tenten just walked up to him, and embraced him from the back. "They'll be alright Neji. Your friends here will make sure of it. I promise."

"Thank you...Tenten."

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"Oi! Hey!...Damnit Sai. Answer me! What happened?!" Naruto complained as Tsunade was wrapping his shoulder with bandages. She too was also interested. Since the knights came back, they all carried grim looks. Both Sakura and Hinata weren't among them, and Tsunade could only think the worst, but she couldn't be sure.

Sai didn't look at Naruto's frustrated face as he let out a deep sigh. "Both Sakura-chan, and Hinata-chan were captured by the Akatsuki." Sai said with guilt.

"What?! How, why?! Damn it, if I wasn't so weak I-" Naruto began.

"Shut up dobe!" Sasuke snapped. Everyone in the tent stopped as the stared at him. Sasuke then turned his back to the rest of the group, and everyone began to proceed with whatever they were doing.

"We're going to get them back." Sai said with determination.

"Of course we are. Once we're all healed up, let's kick those Atkatsuki asses. Let's go!" Naruto said raising his arm into the air. "Owwwww!" He exclaimed as held his shoulder in pain. Everyone just shook their heads.

"Geez, don't kill yourself Naruto." Shikamaru said lazily, trying to sleep on his straw bed.

"You baka! I just closed that wound!" Tsunade yelled as she knocked the young knight over the head. Naruto just let out another wail of pain.

"Damn. If I was present in the battle I would have-" Kiba began.

"Kiba, not now." Shino said, cutting his comrade off.

"I'll go help make dinner." Chouji said before leaving the tent.

"I'll help too." Ino said in a low voice. Everyone remained quiet, until Sasuke faced the others.

"As soon as everyone's good to go, we're going to get our friends back, no matter what the cost." Sasuke said before walking out of the tent. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Hey, that's what I said. How come you guys don't agree with me like that?" Naruto asked. He just heard murmurs of 'baka's. A couple of steps out of the tent Sasuke looked up to the night sky, only to see the moon covered by clouds.

"I won't let him hurt you." Sasuke promised aloud as he walked toward the training grounds.

Once Sasuke was out of sight, a lone figure leaning against the tent let out a sigh. "So this is what happens when I leave those kids alone. Seems like I have to do another solo quest again." Kakashi said with a sigh as he dropped off a medium sized leather bag outside of the tent. _"Hold on Sakura, Hinata."_ Kakashi thought as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Is someone out here?" Sai asked stepping out of the tent. "Hm? What's this." Sai said picking up the leather bag. Opening it, he found two hand drawn, rolled maps. One seemed to lead somewhere, the other looked like a map to the inside of a castle. Sai turned the map over, his eyes widening when he saw what was written on the back. It read:..._**Akatsuki Base**_

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"So that's all she's good for?" Sasori asked sitting across Itachi on a wooden chair. A fire was lit in the fireplace next to the two as their only light source. Light flickered around their bodies as the low howls of the wind outside blew cool breezes into the room.

"The rest is none of your concern." Itachi said as he placed another log into the fire.

"The wench's really annoying. I can't believe that she's capable of matching that Sannin's strength. I thought the legendary slug knight was dead decades ago." Sasori said, narrowing his eyes.

"Apparently not; she must have been trained by her. There is no other possibility; and because of that, she is the only other one with the medical skills needed in this guild." Itachi said before looking towards the wooden door. "What is it Kisame?"

The door was pushed open as the said person walked in.

"That dragon of yours is being a real bitch Itachi. Silence it before I make it." Kisame said with a growl.

"Hn." Itachi said before nodding towards Sasori. Sasori nodded back as Itachi left the room.

"I'll rest for the night. I suggest you do the same before your nightly patrol." Sasori said to Kisame before leaving the room.

"I'm on patrol again? You jackass." Kisame said as he put the fire out with a wave of his sword.

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"Eat up. It's not poisoned yeah." Deidara said. The food on both Sakura and Hinata's plates made their mouths water, but they were more afraid than hungry. A small loaf of bread with a turkey leg, and mash potatoes on the side, the aroma drove them crazy. With a sigh, Deidara took out his keys and opened Sakura's cell. Her eyes widened as he squatted right in front of her.

"I made this myself. I promise it's not poisoned or anything, see." Deidara said before ripping some of the bread and placed it in his mouth. He sampled each other food, showing that it was perfectly safe to eat. Convinced enough, Sakura grabbed the loaf of bread and took a bite out of it, Hinata mimicking her movements. Deidara smiled at their progress.

"Aw, come on, yeah." Deidara said watching the two eat with small bites. Both Hinata and Sakura stopped eating and looked at him. "You two are not in a royal castle or anything. Just eat like you would any other place. Plus I know my cooking is just as good as those chefs you're used to." Deidara then got a spoon full of mash potatoes and shoved it in Sakura's surprised mouth. "There, yeah." Deidara said with a smile. He then turned around and called out, "Hey Hinata-san, I'll come over there and feed you too if you keep eating like that!" Hinata just blushed before taking bigger bites.

"What's wrong with the way we eat?" Sakura asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'm not like the other guys here. You don't have to act so scared or anything around me. It's not fun, yeah." Deidara answered honestly. "Plus, I rather spend my extra time with you two rather than the non-social group above us. So let's be friends and be more comfortable around each other."

"Friends with prisoners?" Hinata asked, confused.

"I have no one else to talk with; and you two are fun to talk to." Deidara said with a smile. "But I don't suggest you guys do anything like this with the others around. Especially lord Uchiha. He has a major sword up his rear." Deidara then started to chuckle. Both Sakura and Hinata didn't know what to say, but they were starting to like Deidara, mainly because he reminded them of someone.

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"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed.

"Don't tell me you're getting sick too." Tsunade said her eye twitching.

"Eh heh." Naruto said. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I can't risk anything." Tsunade said before getting a spoon full of some black liquid from a bottle on the shelf.

"No no no no no! Not that shit-" but Naruto could finish his sentence as Tsunade shoved the substance down his throat.

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**Four Days Later...**

"No, not like that Sakura-chan. Hold your sword with a tighter grip, and spread you legs apart more. I can knock you down easily, yeah." Deidara said helping Sakura and Hinata with their fighting stances. Both of them were outside their cells, something Deidara started to do since the second day they were in the castle. "Don't worry Hinata-san, you're doing great!"

Hinata blushed at the comment as she continued her exercises, Hyuuga style.

"Don't worry, you're getting it." Deidara said.

"Well that's thanks to you. Before me and Hinata had to teach ourselves. You're a great tutor at swordsmanship, almost like Kaka-I mean, one of our friends." Sakura finished off quickly. Friends, she may be with Deidara, but he was still the enemy, a nice guy, but the enemy nonetheless.

"Oh, thanks yeah." Deidara said with a smile before walking to Hinata. "Hyuuga style huh? You are the real princess, well that's good." He said with a smile.

_"Why is that good?I still don't know why they kidnapped us."_ Sakura thought, but decided not to ask.

"Also some more Akatsuki members are coming, but I promise I'll come visit you two." Deidara said with a smile.

"I'll go get you two lunch, yeah." Deidara said as he relocked both girls in their cells. "I'll prepare something great today, I promise, yeah!" He promised before leaving.

"I can't wait, ne Sakura-chan?" Hinata said happily as she continued her exercises within her cell.

"Hey, Hinata-chan. We still have to get out of here. I can imagine how worried Neji-kun, Sai-kun, and the others must be by now." Sakura said in a low voice.

Hinata's happy demeanor soon turned serious to cheerless upon her realization with reality. "What should we do now that all our chakra's been replenished? Deidara said that some more Akatsuki were visiting tonight."

"We leave once they do." Sakura said with determination.

"Hai." Hinata agreed.

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"Are you sure these maps are accurate?" Shikamaru asked looking over the maps found in the leather bag.

"Who would leave them here?" Chouji asked.

"Could they have possibly infiltrate our camp without our notice?" Lee asked.

"Impossible. None of my insects found any trace of foreign substances." Shino said.

"Could they be from Kakashi? I mean we haven't seen him in a while." Kiba suggested. Akamaru barked supporting his master.

"Yes. I'm sure it was Kakashi who left these." Neji answered. "I asked him to get something like these as a favor; I didn't expect him to obtain it so quickly."

"Kakashi? Where is he now?" Naruto asked.

"That is what I'd like to know as well." Neji answered.

"He might have gone and betray-"

"No he wouldn't betray us Sasuke." Sai defended.

"Then would you care to explain his disappearance?" Sasuke asked.

"He might have gone to find Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan." Ino suggested.

"That could be a possibility, but right now we should concentrate on the task at hand." Shikamaru said. "If we follow this map, it should take us about four days to get there, if we don't counter any trouble."

"I say we go for it." Tenten spoke up.

"How can you be so sure tha-"

"It's the only lead we have Sasuke! And if this was really given by Kakashi, then I know that this map is real." Tenten argued. "Besides, we want to retrieve our comrades as soon as possible, do we not?"

"I agree!" Naruto yelled out.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

"Hn." Neji nodded. They all looked to Sasuke. After a minute or so Sasuke finally made his decision.

"Round the horses, we're going to retrieve Sakura and Hinata from those bastards!" Sasuke said, everyone agreed.

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"It seems as though they become very fond of you Deidara." A person spoke as Deidara finished placing the last of the mashed potatoes on the plate to his left.

"So? What is it to you, Kisame?" Deidara said.

"You shouldn't be close to the dead." Kisame said with humor in his voice. Deidara bent the iron ladle with his tightened grip as he placed it in a barrel of clean water.

"You do know what will happen if-"

"That is none of your concern!" Deidara growled.

"Don't make the same mistake twice. We don't want what happened last time to-"

"Silence yourself before I make you!" Deidara warned. The mouths on his hands already chewing on some explosive clay.

"You two. Whatever it is, stop. Our comrades have arrived." Itachi said before leaving the kitchen chamber.

"Hmph." Kisame with a smirk. He then left the room, leaving Deidara looking toward the floor.

Deidara gritted his teeth as both hands were in tight fists. He slammed his right hand onto the counter, making both dinner plates jump. "Kuso." He muttered before recomposing himself. _"It won't happen again this time...especially not with them." _Deidara thought before taking hold of both plates.

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"Ok Hinata-chan, you remember the plan right?" Sakura whispered.

"Hai." Hinata said determined.

"Okay, we'll have to-" but Sakura quickly changed the subject as she heard footsteps coming toward the door.

"Lunch's is here, yeah!" Deidara called out.

"And that's why when a wound-Oh hey Deidara!" Sakura began.

"That looks wonderful!" Hinata commented truthfully.

"Your comments are always well appreciated milady." Deidara said in a mock formal manner. The three just laughed as Deidara served them their meals.

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**Late that night...**

"Is everyone ready?" Neji said as he climbed onto his horse.

"Hai!" his knights chorused.

"Naruto, is everything in the camp secured?" Neji asked.

"Yup. Me, Sai, and Tenten, got everything set!" Naruto said.

"Naruto did you even bring-"

"Of course teme! I'm not dumb enough not to bring the maps." Naruto said throwing the maps to Sasuke.

"Alright, let's move!" Sasuke said as they rode off into the night.

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"So when do we attack lord Uchiha?" An Akatsuki member who literally had a large fly trap around his head asked.

"Patience Zetsu, there is no rush." Itachi answered.

"Killing them off would be a simple matter. All I require is there blood to sacrifice them to my god, then Zetsu you may feast to your heart's content." Another Akatsuki member carrying a triple bladed scythe said.

"You can't possibly think I would let you have all the fun, Hidan." Kisame said with a smirk.

"You two stop before you pull more of us into this pointless conversation." Sasori warned.

"Nonetheless, the profits will be great." Hidan's partner Kazaku said.

"I agree. But do you even have the-"

"Yes, we have the girl, yeah." Deidara said, cutting Zetsu off.

Suddenly the doors busted open. Not one member even took a glance at the door, knowing who came late.

"Late once again, Tobi?" Itachi said in an emotionless tone.

"M-my pardons lord Uchiha. I-I-"

"Just sit down, yeah!" Deidara said in an annoyed tone.

"Deidara-sempai! It's been so long! Why did you leave me in the forest hideout for over a month I was waiting for you!" Tobi said as he sat down right next to the irritated clay master.

"He was trying to ditch you kid, now shut up!" Kisame said, gripping the handle on his sword.

"What?! Deidara-sempai, is that true?!" Tobi asked, whimpering.

"Enough of this." Itachi said, instantly bringing silence to the room. "Our plans and motives are simple enough to understand. We use the Hyuuga heiress to activate our weapon. According to the manuscripts, the girl will die after she uses the weapon three times. The distance in which the victims must be within is as far as her byakugan can see. That should be more than enough to bring down the knights of every country. That fool Orochimaru has done most of the work for us when we let him control multiple kingdoms. All we need to do is have all the knights in one area."

"A full scale war?" Sasori asked.

"Hn." Itachi nodded.

"What about your little brother and those other rebels that call themselves knights." Kisame asked.

"Who care about them. We can exterminate those runts anytime." Hidan said.

"Do not underestimate them." Itachi said, which raised some confusion in the room.

"You don't want to hurt your little brother; do you still believe your brother can be a threat?" Tobi asked. Everyone twitched at Tobi's question. As the newest member, Tobi didn't know anything about the relationship of Itachi and Sasuke.

"He was never a threat to begin with; but with his friends, they may prove to be an annoyance we can not overlook." Itachi answered in his usual calm tone, which erased all the tension recently built. "That is all for tonight, you may leave to your former duties." At this everyone disappeared in a cloud of smoke, including Itachi.

"Baka!" Deidara growled as he hit Tobi over the head with his fist, before leaving the room too.

"That idiot." Deidara muttered on his way to the dungeon.

"Deidara." Itachi said, causing Deidara to stop.

"Yes lord Uchiha?" Deidara said facing him.

"You will not see those two for the next two days, is that clear?" Itachi said.

"But, who's going to feed them, yeah?" Deidara asked, a little troubled with his order.

"You will not see those two for the next two days, is that clear?" Itachi merely repeated. Deidara nodded, looking at the floor. Itachi then began walking in the opposite direction.

"Kuso." Deidara muttered as he stepped away from the dungeon door and headed toward his room.

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"Sakura-chan, do you think something happened to Deidara at the meeting last night?" Hinata asked. "It's already sundown for today."

"I wouldn't worry your pretty little head about that." Kisame said kicking the door open. Both Sakura and Hinata quickly masked their chakra, something they both thanked Kakashi for in their minds. Kisame then approached Hinata's cell, and opened it.

"Hey! What do you think your doing?!" Sakura yelled running up to the bars in her cell.

"None of your business wench." Kisame said with a smirk as he grabbed Hinata by the shoulder. "Don't even try using your chakra, my samehada will just suck it right up."

"Unhand her!" Sakura yelled, very tempted to rip the bars out and attack the Akatsuki member. She was about to commit the very act if she wasn't stopped by Sasori. Chakra strings wrapped her hands behind her as she struggled to get loose.

"What are you doing here? I can take care of two women." Kisame said, irritated.

"If I hadn't stopped this one, there would have been some problems. A simple thank you would suffice." Sasori said. Kisame mumbled incoherent things as he lifted Hinata to her feet and dragged her out of the cell.

"Why you!" Sakura yelled before falling to the ground.

"Don't make me make these strings so tight that it cuts right through you." Sasori warned, her wrists already bleeding.

"Sakura-chan stop! It's ok, don't danger yourself further!" Hinata pleaded as she was taken out of the dungeon.

"Hinata-chan whatever you do don't-" but Sakura didn't finish as Sasori knocked her out.

"Annoying wench." Sasori said as he unwrapped his chakra strings from her hands and left the dungeon.

Hours later, Sakura woke up to find that it was already night after looking out a small crack in her cell.

"Hinata-chan!" Sakura said, remembering what happened. "I have to save her!"

Sakura then put chakra in her hands as she bent the bars wide enough to slip out. Running to the door, she put her ear on it to hear if anyone was on the other side of it. Finding the coast clear she slowly pushed the large wooden door open. Quietly stepping into the fire lit stone hallway, Sakura made a quick guess of which way to go.

_"I wish I had Hinata-chan's byakugan right now."_ Sakura thought as she entered a fork in the hallway. Taking the left side, Sakura soon came across a metal door.

"If it's metal, then they have to be keeping something important inside." She convinced her self.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura pushed the door open. She slowly stepped inside, debating whether she should head back. The room was dark, but she could hear someone, or something breathing heavily on the other side of the large room. There was a large open window near the ceiling, giving Sakura only some moonlight to see the contents of the room. Looking more to where she heard the breathing, she could of sword she saw something huge move.

Petrified, Sakura tried to head back, but the metal door slammed shut from a strong gust of wind. Hearing a shuffle of coins the room suddenly lit up from torches around the room. Sakura didn't even question how the room was lit up as she was too preoccupied with the chained dragon laying on a huge mount of treasure in front of her.

-----------------------------------

"Already one day and we run into these idiots. This is ridiculous!" Sai said as he slashed through a couple Sound Knights.

"Well it was Naruto's decision to come this way!" Kiba yelled.

"Shut it dog boy!" Naruto called out as he kicked one knight in the gut.

"We don't have time for this. It's going to take us another day if they keep coming like this!" Tenten said as she blocked a sword with her two swords.

"Just finish off these guys and let's keep moving!" Neji said as he shot an arrow through two Sound knights.

-----------------------------------

"Oh my god." Sakura muttered as she walked backwards into the door.

Smoke drifted from the dragons nostrils as its piercing yellow eyes centered at her.

"Don't be scared, don't be scared. It can tell if I'm terrified! Calm down, oh my god calm down!" Sakura repeated to herself.

She let out a yelp as he dragon stood up. She shut her eyes waiting for the blast of flames, knowing she had no room to escape, but it never came. Instead she heard a small wail of pain coming from the beast as it laid back down on its mount of treasure.

"What the?" Sakura muttered. She then finally saw that the dragon was completely chained from head to tail with diamond chains. It had an iron muzzle preventing it from even breathing normally. Some of the old cracked diamond chains left multiple cuts on the dragon, letting new blood wash over the dried on its scales.

Though she was scared, she felt sorry for the poor thing. The medic in her unconsciously brought her closer to the beast. The dragon let out a warning growl but Sakura ignored it.

"If you can understand me at all, then I want you to know that I only want to look at your wounds. I think I can heal them." Sakura said. The dragon continued to send her warnings of it about to attack.

"Oh god, I can't believe I'm trying to talk to you like you understand me. I think that I finally lost it." Sakura said. The dragon let out a snort. "Hey! That's nothing to snort about!...Wait, understood me?!" The dragon gave no response.

"Che, what a jerk." Sakura said. The dragon turned it's head and grunted. "Ok, this time I'm sure you know what the hell I'm saying." She said pointing at the dragon, but it gave no response.

"Don't play dumb! I know you can somewhat understand me! Anyways, since I know you do, you wouldn't mind letting me see some of your serious cuts. It'll help the both of us, cause I hate the smell of blood." Sakura said. The dragon merely blinked at her.

"Yeah, I really lost it." Sakura said as she was about to head back to the metal door, but she stopped when she heard the dragon shift it's position. The dragon laid on its side and lifted its left wing up to reveal a deep gash more than five feet in length.

_"Ouch."_ Sakura thought. Walking toward the dragon cautiously, watching for any suspicious movement, she finally made it to the wound.

"Oh no, it's infected. How can the Akatsuki treat you like this." Sakura said. Forming a couple of hand signs, Sakura began working on the gash.

"This might hurt a little, I need to take out the blood from the infected area so don't do anything rash." Sakura instructed. After about a half an hour Sakura healed the wound to perfection. "Now that wasn't so bad, and I have more than three quarters of my chakra still. At least I know my medical abilities are still just as good."

Pondering on that thought she didn't even realize when the dragon's head was right next to her.

"Ahhh!" she screamed before covering her own mouth. She was frozen in place not knowing what the dragon would do. _"I so stupid! How could I let myself trust a freaken dragon! From the Akatsuki no less! If Sasuke got wind of this I-Oh my god, HINATA-CHAN!!!! How could I-" _but sakura's thoughts were interrupted when the dragon began nuzzling her shoulder.

"I'd take that as a thank you?" Sakura said with a smile. She then stepped away from the mount of treasure.

"Well I helped you a little, now to save Hinata-chan and get the hell out of here." Sakura said as she headed toward the door.

"I don't think so." A voice said from behind her. Sakura heart skipped a beat as she turned and looked at the corner of the room she never noticed behind the dragon.

"Strange how you escaped the dungeon without anyone's notice as well as gain Katsu's trust. But even with all that, your luck will now come to an end." The man said as he calmly approached her.

"Uchiha Itachi..."

-----------------------------

**AN:** I know that I have no right to make any excuses, but hell...summer school is driving me nuts...anyways this chapter was pretty long, so deal with it! The next chapter I will promise will come next week though, so there! XP


	10. Friendships and Bonds

**AN**: I don't own Naruto.

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 10 –Friendships and Bonds...**

**-------------------------------------------------- **

"Uchiha, Itachi..." Sakura muttered, stepping backwards. _"Shit!"_ She thought, cursing her luck. _"Why did I have to mess around with the dragon when Hinata's life is at stake?"_

Itachi then suddenly appeared behind her, a dagger resting on her neck. "It was foolish of you to think that you could escape; as well as waste chakra in healing Katsu when his wounds can heal within one night." Itachi said.

"How could you treat him like that?" Sakura asked, a bit of anger in her voice.

"Katsu disobeyed a command. Therefore he was punished." Itachi said simply.

"You're heartless." She growled.

"And you're foolish."

"Where's Hinata-chan? What have you done with her?" Sakura demanded.

"You should be more concerned about yourself, Sakura." Itachi whispered in her ear.

Summoning chakra into her hand, Sakura quickly spun around and aimed a punch straight into Itachi's face. As his body flew back, it blew up into a puff of smoke as a chest replaced his body. Sakura quickly dodged to the left, Itachi's sword barely missing her.

"Damn it." Sakura cursed seeing that she had no weapons to defend herself with. Doing a few quick hand seals, blue chakra surrounded both her hands. At this, Itachi just smirked.

"What is it?" Sakura asked getting into a fighting stance.

"You really are the Slug Knight's apprentice." Itachi said getting into a fighting stance of his own.

"Slug knight? Never heard of him." Sakura said, charging straight at him.

"You mean her." Itachi corrected side-stepping her punch. "I believe her true name is Tsunade." At this, Sakura froze.

"How do you know about Tsunade-sempai?" Sakura asked, aiming a kick at Itachi's gut, only to be blocked.

"I'm disappointed to see one of her only apprentices to not know her legacy. She along with two others held a reputation of three of the greatest knights in Konoha in history." Itachi said parrying another kick with his sword almost effortlessly.

"Thanks for the history lesson, but you still didn't answer my previous questions. Where the hell are you keeping my sister?!" Sakura yelled, as she threw a punch at Itachi, only to be deflected by the handle of his sword. Itachi then grabbed both her hands and held them against her back.

"Sister? I believe her highness was an only child, and the only one with her blood was her elder cousin. You are nothing more than an adoptive servant. You along with that other trash." Itachi whispered.

"Don't you ever call my brother trash!" Sakura growled.

Sakura threw her head back causing Itachi to let go of one of her hands to block it. With her free hand she then aimed another punch. Itachi had little time to counter as he dodged to the right. To his dismay, Sakura was able to nick his shoulder, tearing some of his muscles on contact. Sakura stood there confused when she saw Itachi stand there with a smirk, not showing any pain at all.

"I couldn't possibly understand why you would protect someone with the same blood that killed your entire guild." Itachi said, his face back to its emotionless facade.

"Wh-what?!..." Sakura stuttered, eyes widening in disbelief.

"So you never knew his true identity? Your family and friends all were killed in the massacre, and yet you still don't know who committed that heinous crime?" Sakura gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed at the memories she thought she had forgotten a long time ago. "Not one survived except you of course. How ironic, being close to the one who took everything away. And here you call him your bro-"

"Silence!" Sakura yelled, her eyes staring to brim with tears. "Don't you say another word!"

"And why is that? There was also one other person I'm sure your acquainted with that also has stained blood in him. Do you wish to hear his name Sakura?" Itachi said, seeing Sakura shake with anger.

"Silence this instant!" Sakura screamed charging at him with blind fury. "Don't you dare bring up my fallen guild ever again!" Sakura aimed a punch with all her chakra straight at Itachi, not caring why he sheathed his sword.

"Uzumaki...Naruto..." Itachi said, causing Sakura to abruptly stop her attack only a mere centimeter away from his face.

"...W-wh-what?...No...You're lying!" Sakura yelled, trying to finish her attack, but Itachi grabbed her wrist before she could even move a muscle. Their eyes met, one filled with disbelief and anger, while the other just looked at her with his calm demeanor.

"You can keep telling yourself that, but the truth will always be the same. Everyone close to you was always your enemy. You were just too blind to-"

"Shut up!...Just shut up!" Sakura screamed throwing another punch, only to be caught with his other hand.

"You can't take the truth? How weak." Itachi said not loosening his grip.

"No one close to me is my enemy." Sakura said looking straight into his eyes.

"What about the Hyuugas?"

"I don't wish to hear any more of your lies!" Sakura yelled, struggling to get loose.

"They were the ones who commanded Sai's guild to annihilate yours." Sakura stopped struggling, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"The Hyuugas decided more than a decade ago that other clans and guilds were threatening their power over Konoha. King Hyuuga ordered for all of the clans or guilds he'd chosen to be eliminated to the last child." Itachi continued.

Tears fell from Sakura's eyes; she couldn't believe that, Hiashi, the kind king she had once called father, to be the one to kill everyone she held dear to her.

"Some of the clans and guilds that I remember were on his list were: Aburame, Yamanaka, Nara, Akamichi, Inuzuka, Haruno, and lastly, Uchiha."

_"Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Me, and Sasuke...All of our guilds and clans were killed by Hiashi?"_ Sakura thought in horror. _"That would explain why everyone in Neji's camp hated us. The Hyuugas-wait what am I thinking?! It was Orochimaru!" _Sakura thought.

"It wasn't Hiashi that ordered it! It was that snake advisor of his, Orochimaru!" Sakura argued. Itachi started to laugh.

"Always wanting to blame someone else, hm? It was surprising to me as well when I learned that Orochimaru had nothing to do with this decision. If he said he did, it's just a lie to raise his sadistic pride." Itachi said.

"...No..." Sakura said as she slumped to the floor. "This can't be true."

"Did I not tell you that the ones close to you were your enemy?" Itachi said looking at the girl sitting on the stone floor. "The Hyuugas are just scared royals who fear anything with power. They should be your enemies."

"You're no better than those murderers. Sasuke told me how you helped in killing your own guild, your own family..." Sakura muttered.

"My guild was the most powerful, next to the Hyuugas, but they were just as foolish. Always in need for power, I hated my guild. I cursed the name, Uchiha. In my youth, I learned early, just like the rest of my generation, and the one before that, is that the weak was not to be tolerated, but obliterated. That clan took everything away from me, it was only natural that I returned the favor."

"You're mad."

"Actually, I merely followed my clan's teachings. If you were weak, then you don't deserve to live...And they were weak." Itachi said as if he had no care in the world.

"Then why leave only Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"That knowledge is irrelevant to you." Itachi said grabbing her arm, forcing her to stand. "Do you still wish to save the Hyuuga heiress?"

"Of course!" Sakura said with determination, making Itachi raise a brow in question.

"Just because her family did something to mine doesn't make her guilty. She had done nothing wrong. I don't care if she is a Hyuuga, she is my sister, and I will defend her with the cost of my life! That goes the same for everyone else!" Sakura said.

"How can you be so forgiving?" Itachi said, his eyes narrowing. "How can you allow them to live knowing what they have done to you?"

"They have done nothing to me! They may be blood related, but they, themselves have done nothing!" Sakura said tears freely flowing.

"Can you be so sure about all of them?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, there is not one who I'm sure, that hasn't done me wrong."

"What about-"

"Stop, no more of your lies and twisted words!" but Itachi didn't listen as he muttered the name, "Hatake...Kakashi..." Sakura gasped.

"...Silence! There isn't any proof you can show me that make your words facts!"

"Why would I lie to you? I have no reason to. It's a known fact that he is a mercenary for hire, is he not? How do you know anything of his past?"

"Because he would never-"

"Kill your mother?" Itachi said, cutting the shocked girl. "It was said that White Fang was the one to kill the last of the Harunos. A mother and her young daughter, I believe. White Fang was also responsible for killing his partner Yamato shortly after."

"Kakashi...is...is White Fang?!" Sakura said before fainting from the shock.

---------------------------

"Ok, were to now Neji?" Sasuke asked, halting his horse.

"Until that ridge over there, and then we continue south until we find a lake." Neji said putting away the map.

"Damn those Sound nins!" Ino cursed. "What were they even doing there?"

"Orochimaru..." Neji growled out.

"How could it be him? Didn't the snake run away like a child?" Naruto asked.

"We should watch our backs from now on." Sasuke said pulling the reins on his horse. "Let's move!"

---------------------

"Stop! Please stop...Don't tell me anymore." Hinata muttered as she looked to the floor with fatigue. The shackles around her arms and legs weren't the only burdens bothering her. The one torturing her right now was the burden in her heart.

"Father would never do that to them." Hinata whispered to herself.

"Hmph, believe it princess. You father is the reason why all those pathetic knights are orphans." Sasori said with sick amusement.

"Shut up already Sasori, she gets it. Itachi didn't want us to crack her remember?" Kisame warned.

"You're too light hearted." Sasori said with a smirk.

"You better watch your words you puppet." Kisame growled.

"Hmph, just get a sample of her blood, infused with her chakra. Then place it in the center of this scroll." Sasori ordered rolling out the scroll across the table.

"Right." Kisame muttered grabbing his samhada off the wall. "Don't move, or I might accidentally cut off your arm." Kisame said with a smirk. Hinata shut her eyes as his sword came closer. _"Sakura-chan..."_

-----------------------------

Sakura abruptly woke up, panting. Looking around, she found herself in a dark room, on a bed. "Why the heck am I here? I would have thought I would have returned to my cell." Sakura thought aloud.

"You would have, if I still believe you couldn't escape from it so easily." A voice said from the corner.

"I'd take it, that this is your room?" Sakura asked, getting off the bed, never leaving Itachi from her sight.

"Hn." Itachi nodded. "If you even try to escape I'll have to kill you."

"Why are you even keeping me alive in the first place? What are you doing to Hinata-chan? Where is she?" Sakura asked.

"You'll see in good time." Itachi said walking towards the door.

"You bastard! Leave her alone!" Sakura yelled about to charge, but found herself against the wall. Sakura started coughing from the impact, but her glare never wavered. Both her wrists were above her head, each in Itachi's grip.

"Who do you think you're talking like that to girl? You're either foolish or brave to be saying that to the leader of the Akatsuki." Itachi said, his sharingan spinning dangerously.

"All I see is Sasuke's mad brother. I don't know how Sasuke could be related to one such as yourself." Sakura spat out.

"He is weak. Having friends and useless bonds made him that way."

"No, you're the one who's weak!" Itachi pushed her further into the wall, causing Sakura to go into another coughing fit.

"Friends and bonds are what make you stronger!" Sakura continued.

"They hold you back, they lower your potential. You could have saved yourself when you escaped, but instead you chose to save the princess; and now you're here. A foolish choice indeed."

"How is it foolish to try and save the ones you love? Even Sasuke understands that, and was he not raised the same way as you?" Sakura argued.

"No...He wasn't." Itachi said in a dangerous tone, as though he was recalling forgotten memories. "You seem to have a liking for my younger brother."

Sakura lightly blushed. "He's my friend, something I bet you don't have!"

"Hn." Itachi smirked, as he leaned closer to her. Sakura struggled to push him away from her, but the grip he had on her wrists were too strong. _"Damn it, I'm out of chakra. Of all the times!" _She angrily thought.

"If you're so sure that friendships and bonds make you stronger, prove it." Itachi whispered, his breath hitting her face.

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"We'll have a duel in the morning, two hours after sunrise, when your chakra has replenished. If you win, I'll set both you and the Hyuuga princess free." Itachi said. Shocking Sakura.

"And if I were to lose?" She asked, not sure she wanted to her his answer.

"If you lose, she will remain my prisoner, and you will pledge you allegiance to the Akatsuki as our medic." Itachi said, releasing her from his hold.

"Do you accept?" Itachi asked, with a smirk.

_"If I don't do anything, Hinata and I are surely going to die in a place like this. This may be my only chance, but against Itachi. This must be one of his sick games that he's sure that he's going to win. But do I really have a choice, who's to say he wouldn't force me to be their medic if I don't accept? There's only one thing I can do."_ She thought.

"I accept." Sakura said with determination.

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**AN**: So how was it? A little short I know. Sorry. But a anyways...ummm...yeah. Thanks for reading! Oh, don't forget to review. XP

-Halfbreed741


	11. Crossing Swords

**AN**: I don't own Naruto.

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 11 –Crossing Swords...**

**-------------------------------------------------- **

Sakura let out a deep breath as she watched the sun begin to rise from over the mountains. _"Two hours."_ She thought as she closed her eyes from the blinding rays of light that penetrated through some nearby trees. She laid down in the grass, looking at the brightening sky, smiling at the irony of nature's carefree demeanor, while she counted down the minutes till the duel with the devil himself. She no longer blamed her lack of judgment of her decision as she spent last night focusing on this battle.

She placed a few loose strands of hair back behind her ear before stretching. This may be the last time she would be solely loyal to her friends, and family. Before she thought that if she did lose the duel, she could simply pretend as though her allegiance was to the Akatsuki, but she was sure Itachi would do something that would enforce her part of the deal.

_"I wonder how Hinata-chan is doing? I swear, if they even harmed one hair on her head I will send every last one of them to hell."_ She promised, but as her thoughts lead to the members of the Akatsuki, her eyes widened as she remembered Deidara. He was the one man that she and Hinata were able to befriend in their solitary confinement. What had happened to him since the night of the meeting? Had he been punished for treating them as thought they were almost guests rather than prisoners? Could it have been their fault that he may be somewhere in the castle being punished at the very moment?

Sakura shook the thoughts away. Like she said, he may have been a friend, but he was still the enemy. Neji's, Sasuke's, and Naruto's enemy...Naruto. As she thought about the hyper active knight, she couldn't help but remember Itachi's words.

_**"And why is that? There was also one other person I'm sure your acquainted with that also has stained blood in him. Do you wish to hear his name Sakura?" Itachi said, seeing Sakura shake with anger...**_

_**"Uzumaki...Naruto..." Itachi said, causing Sakura to abruptly stop her attack only a mere centimeter away from his face. **_

_"How does Naruto fit into this? His guild, the Uzumaki, I've heard of it before, but right now the only thing I know is that Sasuke was taken in by them after the Uchiha massacre. Did his guild have anything to do with mine?" _Sakura thought_. "What if Itachi was right about Hiashi, the guild and clan massacres? What if he was right about Kakashi..."_ Tears began to form at the thought of Kakashi's actions and her loss_. "What if he was right about it all?"_ She stood up abruptly as she breathed in the morning air once more. She didn't want to believe it, but what Itachi said actually did put some pieces together, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're almost there." Neji muttered as he slid off his horse, the others mimicking his actions. He walked his horse to a nearby stream, the sun's rays reflecting off the water. He took off his horse's muzzle as he let it drink water from the stream.

"In about one more day, we should get there by nightfall at this pace." Sasuke said, standing next to Neji.

"Where's Naruto?" Neji asked refilling his canteen.

"The dobe and Chouji are getting things set for the upcoming battles."

"And the others?"

"Ino and Tenten went to look for herbs, while Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru went out to scout the area for anything suspicious. Lee and Sai are treating and caring for everyone else's horses." Sasuke finished as he began to fill his canteen.

"I can't imagine what they could have done to them by now. Why did they target Hinata-chan? Why did they take Sakura-chan?" Neji said closing his canteen's cap.

Sasuke's other hand balled into a fist, ripping some grass from the ground. "Damn that brother of mine. The next time I see him, it will be the last." Sasuke said, his voice like ice.

"Don't be too anxious about killing him. Our first priority is to rescue Hinata and Sakura-chan. We won't be looking for any fights against the Akatsuki, is that understood?" Neji asked in an authorities tone.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed before his reasonable side kicked in. He nodded, then heard Neji walk toward where Sai and Lee were. _"If you harmed her in any way, I'll be sure to kill you, Itachi."_

XXXXXXXXX

Two figures stood in the backside of the castle. The sun nearly reached its peak as part of their bodies rested in the castle wall's shadow. A sheathed sword was thrown to her as she caught it. She raised her brow at her opponent.

"An even battle will be fought. Everything goes, there is no time limit." Itachi said, stating the rules of their duel. "We both know what is at stake, let us begin."

Sakura let out a breath as she unsheathed her sword. Itachi did the same as they took their stances. Sakura made sure to avoid the Uchiha's eyes, not wanting him to have an easy win. She guessed that he would let her have the first move and she took it as she ran forward. Her sword clashed with his and the duel began.

The first few minutes were used to test each other out, and see if they could find any weak points in their opponent. Itachi saw many, while Sakura remained baffled. She inwardly cringed as Itachi managed to break through her defenses and cut off the hem of her shirt. Sakura brought her sword up as she parried another one of his powerful swings. He was just playing with her, and she knew it.

Finding that it was time to get serious Sakura started to gather her chakra into her sword. Itachi, seeing the concentrated chakra in her sword, decided that he too should get serious. Once again Sakura charged forward with her sword in hand. With a back swing she sliced through the air dangerously as her sword once again clashed with his. Small gusts of wind were created as both swords continued to come in contact with one another. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the realization that her chakra control was just as good as his, maybe better.

Correction, it was better, Itachi found as his sword began to crack. Sakura took this opportunity to constantly aim her strikes on the cracks in his sword.

_"How can her chakra control be better than my own?"_ Itachi thought irritably as he found himself in another stalemate. Itachi's sharingan glared at the pink haired knight. _"It's time I end this little game."_

Itachi released the chakra in his sword, letting Sakura's blade break through it. Shock was written all over her face as she fell forward. Itachi saw the opening and kicked her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. The sword dropped from her hand as Sakura flew straight into the air, a small trail of blood streaming from her mouth. Itachi suddenly appeared above her and elbowed her back, sending her back down toward the ground. At the last minute she was able to recover and land on the ground safely. She coughed up another mouth full of blood as she watched him land on the ground with grace. He walked over to the sword and stepped on it, successfully breaking it in half.

"He's getting serious. Damn..." Sakura muttered as she stood up. Doing a couple of hand seals, Sakura hands started to glow with blue chakra. Itachi made hand seal of his own, too quick for Sakura to even see which ones he was doing. A hand was placed near his mouth as a huge ball of flame was aimed straight at her.

Sakura's eyes widened as she leaped out of the way_. "The Uchiha's are like their damn dragons! They breathe fire too!"_ Sakura thought as Itachi blew miniature balls of fire at her. It was only until she was hit by one in the leg that she found there were mini blades hidden in the flames. Sakura landed in a tree, hiding within the leaves. She cringed as she pulled out the small blade from her leg. She quickly healed it as she sensed he was coming.

As Itachi walked toward the tree, a small blade shot through the leaves. He dodged it easily as he looked above him. Sakura was falling straight towards him, her fist ready to deliver a lethal strike. He jumped out of the way just in time. Sakura cursed as she hit the ground, causing a miniature earthquake. Sakura stood in place, watching as the ground in front of her shifted into little hills of rocks and dirt.

After seeing that he could mask his chakra to the point of not being able to detect it, she closed her eyes concentrating on any kind of irregular movement, any kind of sound.

She quickly ducked, avoiding a blow on the back of her head that would have surely knocked her out cold. Sakura swung her heel backwards successfully hitting Itachi's ankles. Sakura concentrated the blue chakra into her right fist as she aimed at his falling form. Itachi quickly pushed off the ground with one hand, narrowly escaping her punch as she nicked only the tip of his cloak's collar.

"Damn, so close." Sakura cursed as she stood up, panting a little. Itachi stood only a couple of meters in front of her, looking impassive as ever. He even started to look at the sky, which really ticked her off. _"He's bored?!"_ Sakura thought angrily, her left eye twitching.

_"We've been fighting for about and hour or so."_ Itachi thought, as he looked back at Sakura_. "It's been a while since I fought for this long with my opponent still standing." _Itachi inwardly smirk. _"This only makes me want her addition to the Akatsuki even greater." _

"Hey, Itachi..." Sakura said in a soft voice, Itachi heard her, but gave no sign that he did. "How were Sai and Naruto guilds involved in my guild's massacre?" The question was nagging her all day, and she figured if he did comply and told her, she would have some answers as well as have a couple of more minutes to catch her breath.

Itachi stayed silent for a couple of seconds, contemplating on whether he should tell her or not. In the end he figured it would do nothing but save him from future questions once she joined. Sakura was about to give up on him answering until he finally spoke.

"Sai never had a guild. He was born and raised by bandits. His group was hired by Hiashi as well as the Haruno's rivalry guild, the Uzumakis to assist his soldiers in eliminating the Harunos." Itachi began. Sakura let the information soak in before waiting for him to continue. "But the trick was, he never told the bandits or the Uzumakis that they were on each other's side." Sakura's eyes widen, trying hard not to yell out that he was wrong, but she held it in.

"So in the confusion during the Haruno massacre, the bandits killed members of the Uzumaki, and vise versa. All Hiashi's knights had to do was wait until there were only mere survivors left before engaging in battle themselves. The leaders of the bandits were White Fang and Yamato."

"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked.

"I have my connections." Itachi merely answered before continuing. "Unfortunately, White Fang killed Yamato for unknown reasons, and fled right after. All the bandits were killed along with the Harunos, and the remaining Uzumakis fled as well. That's about all I know without having my own experience in the massacre." Itachi finished looking at Sakura as she looked to the floor with a distant look on her face.

"All this time." Sakura whispered. "All this time I wondered why my guild was killed off, and I always blamed that snake. It's so strange how our generation was able to be friends with the past our blood carries." Sakura said with a sad smile.

"Now you see that friendships and bonds are merely words used to avoid conflict between individuals, nothing more." Itachi said.

"No...You're still wrong because..." Sakura said looking at Itachi, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. "No matter how hard I try, even after listening to all this and even believing most of it, I still can't find myself to hate them."

Itachi, for once in a long time was confused. How could she not hate them? Was she that light hearted? How could she be so loyal to those people? Itachi was utterly confused.

"And with that said" Sakura said in a determined tone that brought Itachi back to his emotionless self. "I'm going to win this duel and get Hinata the hell out of here!" Sakura once again concentrated chakra into her hand, though this time, the chakra around her hands burned blood red.

XXXXXXXXX

"It seems as though that the farther we travel from Konoha, the more corrupted and messed up the kingdoms get." Lee commented. Sai could only agree as he saw entire villages desecrated, burned down, or was a center point of famine. Tenten and Ino looked away from the gruesome sites as their horses trudged forward through filth, dirt, and bodies.

"When we find that damn snake, and take care of the Akatsuki, I'll fix all of this." Neji said in a low voice, as though he was promising it himself. Naruto just gritted his teeth as he past by, stopping himself every now and then from jumping off his horse and helping the poor peasants. They exited yet another torn village and soon entered a farm. Sasuke kept his face emotionless, not letting anything he saw stray his concentration on the mission at hand, but it was really, really hard. Especially when his horse passed by a tree with a small little girl hanging on the trunk by an arrow through her heart. Blood had dried around the wound long ago as flies swarmed around her thin frame. Her eyes were still open, and Sasuke regretted looking into her dull lifeless eyes. He was sure to have nightmares now.

"I can't take it!" Ino called out as she jumped off her horse.

"Ino, what are you doing?" Shikamaru asked getting off his horse too, and racing after her. Ino ran to where the young girl's body was.

"How can any human do such a thing?" She asked, hearing Shikamaru and some others come from behind her. Shikamaru placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked back tears falling down her face.

"Here, let's at least bury this one." Shikamaru said in a soft voice no one had ever heard before. Ino nodded as she and Tenten took out the arrow that held the child's body to the tree. Ino placed her fingers over the girl's eye lids before carefully shutting them. Lee gave a short prayer to the small grave, before he and the rest went back to the others to continue their journey.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was late in the afternoon and neither seemed to be willing to give in, though one could tell who the victor would be. Sakura heavily panted as she forced her self to her knees. Itachi watched as the girl forced herself to stand up once again. To Itachi's dismay, Sakura had been able to make his left arm to stop functioning properly, and the torn muscles in his right thigh was a constant reminder that she was no push over.

"I have to get Hinata-chan out of here." Sakura constantly repeated to herself. She stood up slowly, her frame shaking since it was pure determination that held her up. Itachi looked at her, observed her_. "What could be making her go so far as push herself dangerously beyond her limits?"_ He thought. _"Could it be her drive to save that Hyuuga princess?" _ For once, Itachi couldn't understand her. He was a prodigy, a well known knight who was feared for his ability to torture the mind of his opponent's as well as read it, but for Sakura, his predictions were constantly mistaken. he couldn't understand what she was thinking.

But one thing he was sure of was that this battle would not last long. It would only be a matter of seconds before she collapsed. And his prediction was correct for once as he watched her fall to her knees.

"You have lost this duel Sakura." He said, walking towards her.

"No." Sakura said, through clenched teeth. "Hinata's still in danger. I can't give up."

"You have no choice. You lost. She shall remain my prisoner, and you shall join the Akatsuki. That was our deal." Itachi said, now only about an arm's length away from her. Sakura's fingers drove into the dirt as she shut her eyes in pure frustration. Suddenly, she heard a soft 'thud' as she saw Itachi jump backwards. In front of her was a dagger with the initials W.F on it.

"It's been a while hasn't it? What business could you possibly have here...White Fang?" Itachi asked as someone in clad black clothes stood in front of Sakura.

"Ka-Kakashi?!"

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**AN: Sweet, Kakashi's here! Alright another chapter! Yay! XP Thank you everyone who read and reviewed, you're all the greatest! Summer school's ending this FRIDAY! Yessss! But I still have finals...crap...Oh also, NO DEIDARA, TOBI WHY?! T.T CURSE YOU SASUKE! I CURSE U TO GROW HALF A MUSTACHE THAT CAN NEVER BE SHAVEN OFF! MUHAHAHAHA...(chokes on air)...anyways Thank you and ja ne!**


	12. Welcome to the Akatsuki

**AN**: I don't own Naruto.

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 12 –Welcome to the Akatsuki...**

**-------------------------------------------------- **

Sakura stared at the knight in front of her. How did he find her? She thought.

"Sakura, you rest and when I'm done with him, we'll look for Hinata together." Kakashi said, unsheathing his sword.

"So White Fang, you came here to finish the job?" Itachi asked, his face as stonic as ever.

"What?" Kakashi asked, his eyes narrowing. Itachi merely glanced at Sakura behind him. Kakashi looked behind him only to see Sakura's uncertain face. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play me for a fool White Fang. I'm sure you would have guessed that she was that little girl you failed to kill all those years ago. The young girl who was the first of the Harunos to be born with pink and not red hair. Haruno Sakura." Itachi said.

Kakashi's eyes wide, before they narrowed at the Uchiha. "How did you-"

"You probably didn't have a chance to finish the job once you realized it was her. Since she was always around too many witnesses. That's probably why you agreed to live with them, am I correct?" Itachi said with a smirk.

"Silence before I cut your throat out." Kakashi threatened as he lifted off the cloth the covered his left eye, to reveal the sharingan.

"Is that before or after Sakura?" Itachi said before having Kakashi charge straight at him.

-------------------------

"We're making great time!" Sai said as their group bounded through the forest's vegetation.

"We should get there tomorrow if we keep up this pace." Naruto said excitedly. "Once I get their, I'm going to slay every Akatsuki guy I see and save Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan!"

"Don't get so cocky dobe, you're forgetting they're strong opponents." Sasuke said earning a glare from the blond knight.

"We'll get them back." Neji said in a determined voice. "I assure it."

-------------------------

"You've grown old and slow over the years White Fang." Itachi said parrying another attack from Kakashi's dagger, with Kakashi's sword. "This was crafted from my clan's elite blacksmiths. How did you come to wield this sword?" Itachi examined the unique blade that he managed to take from Kakashi. He looked toward the end of the swords hilt to find the initials, U.O.

"Give that sword back now." Kakashi said in a voice that promised pain.

"Who was the original owner of this sword?" Itachi asked, not taking Kakashi's demand seriously.

_"He just dueled against me, and he's still winning against Kakashi? How is he so powerful?" _Sakura thought, but on a second thought, she was surprised to see that Itachi was speaking the truth since Kakashi didn't even deny the fact that he did kill her mother and tried to kill her. That meant all the other things he told her were probably true as well. Her heart sank.

_**"You probably didn't have a chance to finish the job once you realized it was her. Since she was always around too many witnesses. That's probably why you agreed to live with them, am I correct?"**_

Sakura remembered Itachi saying before the fight began_. "So he was still trying to kill me, that's why he went after me and Sai when he could have attacked Neji and the others instead._ _It all made sense now. Why he was so willing to come and gain our trust..._ _Was when he saved me from Kabuto an act as well_?" She thought in fear, then she remembered.

_**"Die!" Kabuto said as he stabbed through Sakura.**_

"_**Sakura-chan!" Sai yelled. In that same instant, Sakura's body puffed with smoke and turned into a log.**_

"_**Replacement jutsu!" Kabuto said in surprise.**_

"_**Chidori!" Kakashi yelled out as he shot his hand through Kabuto's chest.**_

_"He could have killed me then, and even now, but he didn't. He's protecting me. He may have killed my guild, my family, but it seems as though as soon as he realized who I was, it's almost like he's repaying a dept, a priceless dept...Kakashi...Are you really my enemy?"_ Sakura thought, her emotions conflicting with her common sense.

"That sword belonged to someone important to me. Someone that I'm sure you killed." Kakashi said his sharingan glaring at Itachi.

"I've taken the lives of many." Itachi said in a casual tone.

"But I'm sure you took his life, because he also gave me this eye before he died. He was an Uchiha, Uchiha Obito." Kakashi said before forming his chidori. Wild sparks of electricity build with his chakra illuminated the darkening skies.

"Ah, Obito-san. The one who fought me single-handedly after the massacre. He is a worthy opponent, though he does have that foolish belief of friendships and bonds. Just like Sakura over there." Itachi said offhandedly, looking at Sakura. Kakashi couldn't hold back any longer as he went charging at the Uchiha.

Itachi then started to do similar hand seals. He put the sword next to his mouth as he blew fire onto it. The sword was engulfed in flames, and both Sakura and Kakashi looked at the sword in shock when the sword contained the flames within the blade. Kakshi didn't slow his pace though as he thrust his chidori forward making contact with his own sword. Sakura watched in amazement as she saw two visible colors of chakra clashing against one another.

"As an Uchiha sword, fire can be used to amplify its attack strength, by having the fire surround it like a barrier." Itachi said, answering Kakashi's confused look. "I can't imagine how you could not know this, and neglect using this sword's true power." Kakashi merely pushed more chakra into his jutsu as he pushed Itachi a step back. "That is the difference between you and I White Fang. If I find something of any value, I use it to its utmost potential."

Itachi's sword was then engulfed by flames once more, no longer showing its metal blade as the flames itself took its shape and form. Another second later Itachi cut through Kakashi's weakening chidori and slashed him across the chest. The wound bled heavily as Kakashi landed several feet away from Sakura.

Itachi walked over to Kakashi His sword emitting a small stream of smoke as Kakashi's blood was burned dry at the sword's intense heat. Sakura could only watch in horror as Itachi came dangerously close to Kakashi. He body moved on its own as she stood in front of Kakashi with her arms spread out.

"Don't you dare think about killing him!" Sakura said, as both Kakashi and Itachi fixed their gaze on her.

"Sakura, stand back." Kakashi said as he tried to sit up.

"Kakashi, don't move or will only worsen the wound." Sakura warned without looking at him. She was low on chakra at the moment, and couldn't decide whether she should use it now, or to fight off Itachi. Either, she knew she was going to lose, but that didn't stop her from trying.

"Move." Was all Itachi said as he raised his flaming sword. The light danced around the sword as darkness began to surround the three.

"If you want to kill him, you will have to cut through me as well." Sakura said with determination. Itachi looked at her, with a questioned look. He could tell she was serious, but he couldn't understand why.

"Sakura." Kakashi muttered before standing up and leaning on a tree for support. "Run. I'll hold him off, it's the least I can do for my sins." Sakura spun around to face him, her eyes shining from tears.

"So it's true...You did kill my mother?" Sakura said her arms returning to her sides. Kakashi didn't say anything as he looked to the grass, unable to look her in the eye. "But why then, didn't you kill me? Then, before, and now? Why?!" Sakura demanded.

"Back then, I was different. It was before the time I met Obito." Kakashi began.

"You mean to tell me you changed from the feared mercenary White Fang, to what she believes as Kakashi in only three months?" Itachi asked, lowering his sword.

"There was a three month gap between the Haruno and Uchiha massacre?" Sakura thought as she looked at Kakashi to continue.

"When my team was to attack your guild, me and Yamato disagreed on one thing." Sakura waited as Kakashi finally built up the courage to look at her sad eyes. "To kill children."

_**"Yamato, why kill the children, they don't even know how to fight?" A younger Kakashi in his teens asked as his partner Yamato walked with him side by side toward the sleeping guild's camp.**_

_**"Our orders were to kill every man, woman, and child. No exceptions." Yamato said without looking at him.**_

_**"Orders? You sound like one of those damn knights now. Since we were children we took orders from no one but ourselves, cared for no one but ourselves. You've changed." Kakashi said as he and the rest of their group stopped in the bushes near by the camp gates. **_

_**"You're asking not to kill children and saying that I've changed?" Yamato asked barely above a whisper.**_

_**"What about Sai? Is he not a child? You killing them is like killing him."**_

_**"I would kill the runt as well if I had to. He's not even worth making an apprentice. Not being able to wield a sword by his age, what a waste he turned out to become!" Kakashi couldn't believe his long time friend.**_

_**"We've turned out this way, we live this way because of people like us. We were lucky to have survived this far. Why not give the same chance to them, after this, they'll be just like us."**_

_**"Stop making excuses because you're afraid to kill the young."**_

_**"Stop sounding as though you are any different from them! We are not but seventeen! Surely you have remembered. We have hearts that still beat in our chests, don't we?" Kakashi said as Yamato gave him a blank stare. **_

"_**Let's move!" Yamato ordered as their team set out into the slumbering camp. Kakashi glared at Yamato. "What about this Kakashi, if you don't kill them, I will...Along with you." Kakashi's eyes widen in shock. "I don't need someone this weak for a partner, and if you even think about escaping from this, don't think you can ever come back, cause the next time I see you, I'll kill you, along with that little brat Sai." With that Yamato leaped off into the now burning camp.**_

_**------------------**_

_**"Damn those Uzumakis. Getting into our way. They would probably collect all the reward from the king for slaying the last of the Harunos." Yamato said as he pulled an arrow out of his shoulder. **_

_**"We have to retreat." Kakashi warned as he slit the throat of a Konoha knight.**_

_**"Hmph, too late. We're the last ones left." Yamato said, anger lacing with every word as the two looked around. Members of the Uzumaki and the Knights of Konoha were all in heated battles for survival. **_

_**"Okaa-san! Outo-san!" Both Kakashi and Yamato heard from a distance. They both looked to see a small crying girl calling out to her parents. From the flames of the burning huts, her hair appeared to be a dark shade of red.**_

_**"Hmph, I suppose we do get to kill the last of them, eh?" Yamato said grabbing his sword off the ground. Kakashi was about to protest, but then he remembered what Yamato said earlier. Yamato charged at the young girl, her eyes filled with fear.**_

_**"Stop!" A man called out as he stood in front of the girl protectively. Yamato didn't slow down as he slashed his sword across the man's neck. Severing his head from his body. The girl stood there in absolute fear as a woman came and scooped her up and ran to the woods. **_

_**"Kakashi go after them!" Yamato ordered as some Uzumaki members came from behind. He chased them as far as the injured woman could take them, until she came to a stop, too tired to continue.**_

_**"Please don't kill her, she's only a child!" the woman begged, even after Kakashi stabbed her with his sword.**_

_**"Okaa-san!" The girl cried he pulled his sword out of her stomach. Blood oozed onto the floor as the girl's mother moved over to where the frightened girl stood frozen. She wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace muttering 'it's going to be ok' over and over again in shallow breaths. Kakashi couldn't bear the sight, no matter how many times he did this.**_

_**"Mother!" Sakura cried as she hugged her. **_

"_**There can't be any survivors from this village." Kakashi said with an emotionless tone. "May you find peace in the afterlife."**_

_**"NOOOOO!!!" The mother screamed as she turned her back to him and covered the girl. The sword cut through her once more, but Kakashi then realized he missed the girl. The woman was still muttering things, as Kakashi pushed the body of the woman away from the now unconscious child. Kakashi was about to deliver the final blow, until he noticed the color of her hair.**_

_**"Pink?" Kakashi said. It was known far and wide that the Haruno trait was dark red hair. Kakashi lowered his bloodied sword as he looked at the girl more closely.**_

_**"What are you waiting for Kakashi, finish the girl and let's get out of here!" Yamato said appearing next to him. **_

_**"She's not even a Haruno! Look at her, let's just go!" Kakashi said.**_

_**"Enough excuses, I'll finish her myself!"**_

_**"Stop!" Kakashi said as he went to stop him from killing the girl. The two stuggled as Yamato punched him in the face. Yamato was about to slash Kakshi with his sword, until Kakshi made the move first.  
**_

_**"You bastard." Yamato said before falling to the ground. Kakashi stood there motionless as he still held his dagger in front of him, covered in Yamato's warm blood. Kakashi took several minutes to actually understand what he had done. Then out of the bushes a Konoha knight came charging at him. By instinct, Kakashi silenced him. **_

_**"I can't get out of here alive, that's for sure." He said as he looked around for any option of escaping this hell. He stared at the knight's attire, and decided to switch clothes with him. He looked at him carefully before casting a justu to look exactly like him. He then casted a genjutsu to make the knight look like a regular bandit. Just as soon as he was done dressing the knight in his clothing more of them appeared. Kakashi kept his back toward them.**_

_**"Commander! The Uzumaki's have retreated and the bandits all executed, what is our new objective!" The knight said on his knees. The other kneeled before him as well. "A commander, lucky." Kakashi thought as he looked to the sleeping girl. **_

_**"That girl, take her to the nurses, she isn't a Haruno, but a lost citizen of Konoha. Go at once!" Kakashi ordered. The knights looked skeptical, but training told them to listen to their commanding knight as one of them took the girl and headed toward Konoha. **_

_**"You two!" Kakashi said pointing at two of the remaining three knights, "Scout the area for any survivors." They nodded before heading off in different directions. Before Kakashi could give the last knight an order, he stood up and unsheathed his sword. **_

_**"Who's there? Show yourself or I will attack!" The knight called out. No sooner did a young raven-haired boy step out from behind the bush.**_

_**"Sai?!" Kakashi thought in shock.**_

_**"Don't kill me!" The boy said as he covered his hands over his head.**_

_**"Commander, orders?" The knight said still pointing his sword towards the boy.**_

_**"Take him to Konoha as well, to where the girl is being taken." Kakashi ordered. **_

_**"Uh...H-hai." The knight said sheathing his sword.**_

_**The boy looked at Kakashi with tear filled eyes. "Don't worry, we're here to help. We won't hurt you."**_

_**"But you killed Y-"**_

_**"How would you know these men? You're not a bandit." Kakashi said sternly, looking directly into Sai's eyes. "Are you?" Kakashi hoped to god that the kid would get the idea, and go along with what he was saying, or he would be forced to kill him. Sai merely nodded. Kakashi told the knight to take Sai, and that he would shortly.**_

_**"Commander, the King wishes for your presence immediately" a soldier said as Kakashi entered the castle. When Kakashi entered the great throne room, he saw one pissed off king.**_

_**"Do you know why you were summoned?" Hiashi asked, his voice echoing across the room.**_

_**"Um, the children?" Kakashi asked, hoping that they didn't know it was really him.**_

_**"Yes! What is the meaning of bringing them to my castle?" Hiashi said, his voice raising. Kakashi started to get pissed. He just asked for the kids to be treated after his doing!**_

_**"And what was the meaning of eliminating the Haruno guild, as well as attempting to rid us of the Uzumakis?" Kakashi countered, which left Hiashi speechless.**_

_**"On oath, you swore never to repeat what you have done tonight. Commander, do you want to lose your position?" **_

_**"I don't really give a crap, but I bet you will care when the entire kingdom knows what you did." Hiashi's frown grew deeper as he glared at Kakashi.**_

_**"You were one of my most loyal knights. Have you gone mad?"**_

_**"Here's my proposition."**_

_**"You are in no right to make a deal with me!"**_

_**"Actually I do. Because anyone who were friends with the Harunos, any kind of ally, I will turn against you. That includes the Uchihas." Kakashi bluffed, but the mention of the Uchihas were enough to make Hiashi stand up, looking at Kakashi with shock.**_

_**"Guards!..Guards?!"**_

_**"Already taken care of."**_

_**"What do you want? Money, power?" Hiashi demanded.**_

_**"I want you to take care of those two kids. The boy and the girl, as though they were your very own children."**_

_**"What?!"**_

_**"If not then I suppose-"**_

_**"Alright." Hiashi said, not wanting to hear the consequences, but was still confused about the deal.  
**_

_**"I will keep watch of them from time to time. So you better keep your word."**_

_**"You will pay for threatening me commander."**_

_**"Hmph, go ahead." Kakashi said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. **_

_**"Your highness!" A guard yelled as he ran into the throne room. **_

_**"So he was lying, he just put up a genjutsu to silence our conversation." Hiashi thought.**_

_**"The Uzumakis were able to escape elimination, and we also suffer from many casulaties...Including the commander himself." The guard said in a low tone. At that, Hiashi couldn't believe he made a fool out of himself. Kakashi who sat at the highest windowsill smiled to himself as he leaped out to the other side.**_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura stood there, unable to believe the absolute truth. It was Kakashi that both ruined and saved her life. As well as Sai's. Hiashi did kill her guild as well as everyone else's. He was definitely not the king she thought he was. _"Wait till Sai, Hinata and Neji learns this!"_ She thought.

"Hn. Hiashi was more foolish than I thought." Itachi said as he added chakra to his sword.

"Stop! I won't let you harm him anymore!" Sakura said, holding Kakashi's dagger in front of herself protectively.

"Do you truly believe you can stop me in both your conditions?" Itachi said his sword only inches away from her face.

"Sakura stop-" Kakashi began, as he started coughing.

"Please don't." Sakura said, knowing that she stood no chance against him. "I'll join the Akatsuki without question, just stop, please." Sakura said, angry that she was too weak to fight, scared that Itachi would refuse and still kill Kakashi, and sad for giving herself up to him and betraying the others. Itachi's sword no longer burned with fire as he sheathed it in his old swords sheath. He then pulled out a blood red scroll. He slowly unraveled it to show that its inner contents was entirely black.

"Give me your hand." Itachi ordered as he took out a small dagger from his cloak.

"Sakura stop!" Kakashi said in panic. "You don't know what you're doing! Don't spend your life to save mine!"

"But you did that for, me. Why would it be different if I did it for you?" Sakura said as she gave Itachi her left hand.

"What about Neji, Hinata, Sai?" Kakashi said which made Sakura's hand flinch back. She look at Itachi's outstretched hand and then at Kakashi's pleading face. "What about Naruto?...What about Sasuke?"

Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears again as she closed her left hand.

"If Hinata can not use the weapon, then we will take Neji as well. Killing my brother would not problem me as well." Itachi said, making Sakura cringe with anger.

"Sakura, they can protect themselves, he can't kill them that easily." Kakshi argued, but they both knew the strength of the Akatsuki was not to be taken likely.

"They still have Hinata-chan. She's in danger, and Neji will be too if I don't do anything." Sakura said, looking at Itachi. "And they'll use that for a weapon they stole from the Hyuuga castle against everyone else. I have to protect her and everyone else too." Sakura said as she gave her hand to Itachi.

"Sakura!" Kakashi said as Itachi slashed her palm. Sakura bit the bottom of her lip from the pain as he gently placed her bleeding hand onto the scroll. The scroll seemed to come alive as it sucked in her blood. The black paper soon had inscriptions written with her very own blood. With a burst of light, the initiation was complete as the scroll disappeared. Kakashi cursed as he fell onto the ground, his back facing the sky. The blood loss finally caught up with him as he started to black out.

"Kakashi!" Sakura said as she fell to her knees. Sakura then felt a throbbing pain throughout her body. She fell back, straight into Itachi's arms as she cringed in pain.

"Your body will adjust to the chages by morning." Itachi said, but Sakura hardly heard what he said as she was mainly concentration on the unwanted pain throughout her body, and heart.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki." Itachi said as Sakura drifted into the darkness of her mind.

_"What have I done?"_ Sakura thought, the last thing she saw were the blood red eyes of the devil.

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**AN: AH! Done at last! XP Thank you for reading, I really appreciate that you even went this far into the story. I hope that you don't mind me writing a lot about their history in this chapter. Anyways, thanks again, ja ne!**


	13. Discovering Emotions

**AN**: I don't own Naruto.

**--------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 13 –Discovering Emotions...**

**-------------------------------------------------- **

"Ahh!" Sakura yelled, panting. She sat up abruptly, successfully making her dizzy from the sudden blood rush. She found herself sitting in a twin sized bed in an unknown room. There was one window, and judging by the amount of sunlight illuminating the room, it was early in the afternoon. Sakura then recalled all of the events from the previous night.

"Was it a dream?" Sakura asked herself, but she soon found that it wasn't a dream when she saw her bandaged hand. She slowly, carefully unwrapped the bandage to find a mildly healed cut across her palm. She closed her eyes, clenching the blanket with her unwounded hand and bit her bottom lip in regret.

_"Hinata-chan! Kakashi!"_ Sakura thought as she jumped out of the bed. On a hook near the door, hung an Akatsuki robe. She found that she was still wearing her old clothes and let out a sigh. Sakura walked toward it. _"Do I have to wear this from now on, like the rest of them?"_ She narrowed her eyes, feeling the fabric between her fingers, before grabbing it and throwing it to the floor. She gave it one last glare before opening the door, and sprinting through the hallways.

----------------------------

"Tell me again why you didn't, and why we can't kill White Fang." Sasori asked rubbing his temple with his left hand. Kakashi sat there motionless in the dungeon in Hinata's old cell, chained, all of his chakra deprived of him by Kisame's sword. He seemed to be in a state between consciousness and sleep, barely able to concentrate in the conversation taking place in front of him.

"I told you multiple times." Itachi said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Yes, but I don't see any need to keep your end of the deal. Sakura's blood was absorbed by one of our scrolls, she's bound to your service until death." Sasori said.

"Kisame, go have Deidara fully introduce our guild to Sakura before she tries to run out the south exit. She should be there in about three minutes." Itachi ordered as Kisame left the dungeon. Itachi, too, began to head for the door.

"Lord Uchi-" Sasori began, but was cut off by Itachi's answer.

"When I give my word, I keep it. It's as simple as that Sasori. Now go find Tobi and have him feed Katsu. Then inform the rest of our new recruit." Itachi closed the door behind him.

Sasori let out a sigh as he looked at the half dead Kakashi. "I'll never understand that Uchiha."

----------------------------

"Why the hell do all these corridors have to look alike?!" Sakura said in frustration as she continued to look for possible exits. She knew she couldn't save Hinata and Kakashi by herself, she had to go and find to others, but the pain she felt about being too weak to save the ones she loved seemed to grow stronger by the minute. She came to another turn in her path as she started to walk, feeling as though she was being followed. She came to a full stop when she heard footstep coming from behind her.

She cursed under her breath as she let out a sigh. She swiftly turned around in a defensive position as she readied herself for a fight. Her narrowed eyes widened to shock, to relief, then to confusion.

"Deidara? You won't believe what happened to-what's wrong?" Sakura asked, seeing his gloomy look. He didn't answer, which made her now concerned. The last time she saw him was before he left off to that meeting days before.

"Deida-" She tried once again.

"Why?" Deidara said in an emotionless tone, cutting her off.

"What do you-"

"Why did you sell yourself to him? Why did you join Akatsuki? Do you realize what you've done?!" Deidara said, emotion returning to his voice, as his feature visibly displayed some anger.

"I had to! You don't understand-" Sakura tried to defend herself, but she was cut off again.

"Understand? No you don't get it! He can make you do almost anything now! You're now like Sasori's puppet!" Deidara yelled, frustrated that she now shared the same fate as him.

"How can he control me?"

"Your blood."

"My blood? How would that-"

"The scroll Itachi has that possesses your blood has a similar effect to what Hidan can do. It can kill you from the inside out or torture you to the point of insanity. If that happened he could control your every movement, your every thought!" Deidara said with such anger that, he punched the wall to the side of them. Sakura gasped when she saw blood dripping from his hand as it dropped to his side. "He can make you hurt the ones closest to you." He barely whispered, but she heard every word nonetheless.

"Deidara..." Sakura began, but silence just filled in whatever she couldn't say. She carefully took his wounded hand, him doing nothing to stop her. She healed his hand to perfection as she released it carefully. "I suppose you can't tell me where Hinata-chan, and Kakashi are, or how they're doing, huh?"

"They're safe. Kakashi is alive surprisingly. I never expected Lord Uchiha to do such a thing though. The princess, I don't know." Deidara said as Sakura heart sank at the mention of Hinata's welfare, but she guess that if Itachi kept his promise for Kakashi, then Hinata was most likely in no danger at the moment as well.

"They're ok. He kept his word." Sakura said to herself.

"His word? You made a deal with Lord Uchiha?" Deidara said, not believing what she just said.

"Yes, that was our agreement. That was how and why I joined your guild." Sakura said looking to the floor.

"Either he has taken a fancy towards you milady, or he's gone mad." Deidara said.

"What?"

"Lord Uchiha never _truly_ keeps his word. He always somehow manages to find a loophole of some sort. Either you were very specific in your request, or you still haven't noticed how he was able to get around your words, like the weasel he is."

"Oi, Deidara, I was relieved for a second, but now I'm more worried than ever." Sakura said confusion flooding into her thoughts mixing with her concern.

Deidara immediately felt bad about making her distressed. Wanting to erase the growing tension he said, "I guess since you're an Akatsuki member, I should show you around properly. Maybe you could be my partner instead of that idiot Tobi!" Deidara put up a happy facade. She just gave him a sad smile, as she followed him back towards her room.

-----------------

"We finally made it." Tenten said as she and the others looked over the Akatsuki's abandoned castle.

"Come on! Let's get into that bloody castle now and-" Naruto ranted.

"No, we have to go when it gets dark. We want to avoid combat as much as possible." Neji said, glaring at the castle only about a mile away.

"Speak for yourself, Hyuuga." Sasuke said.

"What was that?" Neji questioned.

"We need to find Itachi.-"

"No, we will avoid him at all costs."

"Listen Hyuuga. All our problems will be gone if-"

"Hey! You want to save the girls too don't you? Don't bring your family issues into this. It will jeopardize our plans!" Naruto yelled.

"For once I agree with the idiot." Sai said casually. Sasuke glared at his best friend and look-alike.

"Sasuke, I've warned you already about this." Neji said, challenging the Uchiha's gaze.

"If we get rid of him now, he won't be a threat to us in the future." Sasuke argued.

"Our goal right now is to get Hinata and Sakura-chan out of there safely, or is fighting your brother a more pressing issue at the moment?!" Neji spat. Naruto and the rest sensed the dark cloud forming over the two.

"Come on you two. The head knights shouldn't be fighting each other like this, especially when on a mission." Naruto said, hoping to stop them from ripping each other's head off.

Both Neji and Sasuke glared at each other for another few seconds before breaking off simultaneously.

"Damn idiots, acting like children!" Ino huffed. Tenten could only agree, as Shikamaru and the rest let out a sigh. The two then walked in different directions, everyone guessing to vent of frustration. Naruto, being the best friend he was, ran after Sasuke to have a talk with him.

"Teme, don't do anything stupid." Naruto said, successfully bringing his friend to a complete hault.

"How is killing Itachi doing something stupid?" Sasuke asked, not looking back.

"You have to wait for another time. We can't risk endangering Hinata and Sakura-chan any more. If you just go straight for your brother, what do you think is going to happen, huh teme? There'll be an all out war that's what! How are we suppose to fight and get the girls out? Use your head." Naruto said poking at his skull.

"Can you imagine what he could have done to Sa-them?!" Sasuke said, quickly correcting himself. Naruto raised a brow, but decided not to interrupt what his friend was saying. "I have to stop him before he takes more from me."

"Sakura's yours? Since when?" Naruto asked with his all-knowing smile.

"What are you going on about? Who said that Sakura was mine? That's not what I was referring to!" Sasuke said quickly.

"Riiiiight, okay teme. Keeping fooling thy self." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Don't talk to me like those foreigners. I don't even know why we went to one of their crappy plays, they make up their one damn words, which obviously affected your literacy."

"Hey, I think that Romeo and July...ummm Juiley something play was ok. It was a bit mushy, and they talked a lot, but it wasn't crappy! But that's besides the point!" Naruto said, but Sasuke began to lose interest in what Naruto had to say anymore.

"Hey teme, don't walk out on me!...Argh!" Naruto said seeing the receding form of the Uchiha's back. "Just don't go after the bastard!"

Sasuke looked up at the sky to see the sun beginning to set. His thoughts went back to his and Naruto's recent conversation. _**"Sakura's yours? Since when?"**_ _"Damn that baka, making me confused like this." __**"Riiiiight, okay teme. Keeping fooling thy self."**_ _"Argh! Even if he isn't here, I can still hear the imbecile!"_

"Damn girl, why didn't she listen to me and run!" Sasuke said in frustration as he kicked a rock out of the dirt.

_**"Sakura, run while you still can. I'll hold them both off." Sasuke unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Itachi. "Go."**_

"_**Damnit Sasuke, are you crazy?!" Sakura said. Sasuke just looked at her, annoyed.**_

"_**Stop being so stub-"**_

"_**Stop trying to be my knight in shining armor. If you're going to fight, so am I!" Sakura said as she unsheathed her sword.**_

Sasuke recalled the time when she didn't run, but stayed and helped his ass out. "She isn't like anyone I've ever met before." Sasuke admitted to himself as he headed back toward the others to discuss their plans again.

-------------------

**AN:...It's short but I'm having a huge writers block, I'm sorry...Thank you for reading...ja ne.**


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